Versuch

Forms

Versuch m (genitive Versuches or Versuchs, plural Versuche)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German versuoch, inherited from Old High German firsuoh (“test, proof”), a noun belonging to versuchen, Middle High German versuochen, formed with ver- from suchen.^[1][2][3] The verb is Old High German suohhen, from Proto-Germanic *sōkijaną, also found in Gothic 𐍃𐍉𐌺𐌾𐌰𐌽 (sōkjan), Old Norse sœkja and Old English sēcan, whence English seek.^[4][5] Within Germanic it looks like a causative of the strong verb behind Sache, but Kluge and Kroonen note that the cognates outside Germanic fit it better: Latin sāgiō (“to perceive keenly”), Old Irish saigid (“seeks”), Ancient Greek ἡγέομαι (hēgéomai, “to lead”) and Hittite šak- (“to know”), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g-.^[4][5] Kluge takes the starting sense to be a dog's following a scent, which could lead both to “seek” and to “lead”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Old High German noun is found only once, in a gloss of the 12th–13th century, translating Latin probatio “test”.^[2][6] The Middle High German versuoch meant a striving or undertaking and a test.^[1]

Semantic evolution

Until the 17th century the noun was rare, and the senses “experiment” and “temptation” were shared with Versuchnis and Versuchung; in the 17th century Versuch took over the sense “experiment”, and the split between Versuch “attempt” and Versuchung “temptation” became fixed.^[6] An older sense “hostile attack”, as in an assault on a fortress, lasted into the 19th century.^[6][3] The sense “experiment” is found in Paracelsus and spread in science from the 18th century, as in Goethe's prismatic experiments;^[3] “trial, test” is early New High German, and “undertaking, attempt” followed.^[3]

The word also stands in titles of essays and literary attempts, as German for Essay.^[7][8] In rugby it is the word for a try.^[7] Danish forsøg “test” was borrowed from German.^[6]

Timeline

• 12th–13th century – Old High German firsuoh glosses Latin probatio.^[2]
• 16th century – Paracelsus uses Versuch for an experiment.^[3]
• 17th century – Versuch replaces Versuchnis and Versuchung in the sense “experiment”.^[6]
• 18th century – The scientific sense spreads.^[3]
• 19th century – The old sense “hostile attack” dies out.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An attempt to do something: Ihr zweiter Versuch, den Gipfel zu erreichen, gelang.^[7][1]
2. A literary or artistic attempt; an essay, often in titles: Versuch über die Freundschaft.^[7]
3. (sports) One attempt at an exercise in a competition, as in the long jump.^[7]
4. (rugby) A try.^[7][1]
5. An experiment or test: ein Versuch mit Mäusen.^[7][1]

Word family

• versuchsweise
• Tierversuch
• Fluchtversuch
• Versuchskaninchen

Related words

• versuchen
• Versuchung
• suchen
• Besuch

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de
3. ^ a b c d e f g Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
4. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 897
5. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 25, 1822
7. ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
8. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org