Etymologically
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Vergleich

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Pronunciation

  • /fɛɐ̯ˈɡlaɪ̯ç/[1]

Forms

Vergleich m (genitive Vergleiches or Vergleichs, plural Vergleiche)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from the verb vergleichen, which is Middle High German vergelīchen (“to make equal, settle”), with ver- added to gelīchen, a verb from the adjective gleich.[2][3][4][5] An older noun for the same idea was formed with the suffix -ung already in Middle High German.[3]

The adjective is gelīch, Old High German gilīh, from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz (“having the same shape”), a compound of *ga- and *līką (“body, shape”), the word continued in Leiche.[5][3][1] The same adjective is Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃 (galeiks), Old Norse glíkr, Old English gelīc and Dutch gelijk, and English like continues it.[5][3] Pfeifer adds Lithuanian lýgus (“equal, alike”) and reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *līg- (“shape; alike”), while Kluge prefers to separate the Baltic word, which may go back to “even, smooth”, and notes that the analysis of the Germanic compound is not as simple as it looks.[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Grimms' dictionary finds no record before the 17th century;[6][4] Stieler's dictionary of 1691 gives the legal sense “settlement”, with gerichtlicher Vergleich (settlement in court) and the proverb es ist besser ein magerer Vergleich als ein fettes Urteil (“a lean settlement is better than a fat verdict”).[6][4] Opitz already used the noun several times for “comparison”.[7]

Semantic evolution

The noun followed the verb: at first it meant “making equal”, as in Logau's lines on sleep and death, which make a Vergleich between rich and poor; then “agreement, amicable settlement”, which has survived as the legal term.[6][4] In the 18th century it developed the sense “setting things side by side to find their differences”, with im Vergleich zu (“compared with”), and ohne Vergleich (“beyond compare”) is probably later.[4] Adelung (1793) still treats “comparison” as colloquial, for the likeness that makes comparing possible, and describes the settlement in detail.[7]

The older Vergleichung was the usual word for “comparison”, and in the 16th and 17th centuries also the mathematical term, until Gleichung replaced it at the end of the 17th century.[3] In stylistics Vergleich names a figure such as “black as ebony”, and in sport a match between two teams.[2] Polish dialects borrowed ferglajch (recorded 1863) for the admission of a newly qualified craftsman into the guild.[8]

Timeline

  • 8th century – Old High German gilīh “equal, alike” is recorded.[5][9]
  • 17th century – Vergleich first appears, in Stieler and in Opitz.[6][7]
  • End of the 17th century – Gleichung replaces Vergleichung in mathematics.[3]
  • 18th century – The sense “comparison” develops beside “settlement”.[4]
  • 1793 – Adelung calls the sense “comparison” colloquial.[7]
  • 1863 – Polish ferglajch is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A comparison, a setting side by side of two or more things;[2][1][10] im Vergleich zu, compared with: Im Vergleich zu ihrem Bruder ist sie sehr ruhig.[2][1][10]
  2. (stylistics) A simile, a phrase likening one thing to another, as stark wie ein Bär.[2][10]
  3. (law) An amicable settlement of a dispute by mutual concessions: einen Vergleich schließen.[2][1]
  4. (sports) A match between two teams or clubs.[2][10]
  • vergleichen
  • vergleichbar
  • unvergleichbar
  • unvergleichlich
  • gleich
  • Gleichnis
  • Leiche
  • begleichen

Usage notes

Das ist doch kein Vergleich! means that one thing is far better or worse than the other, and a weak comparison is said to limp: der Vergleich hinkt.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  5. ^ a b c d e Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 362
  6. ^ a b c d Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 25, 448
  7. ^ a b c d Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
  8. ^ a b Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
  9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  10. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org