Etymologically
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aktiv

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Pronunciation

Forms

aktiv (strong nominative masculine singular aktiver, comparative aktiver, superlative am aktivsten)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin āctīvus (“active, practical”), formed from agō (“to drive, do, act”), past participle āctus.[2][3][4][5] Until the 18th century it was mostly used as an adverb, after āctīvē;[3][6] DFWB allows for the influence of French actif once it was in continuous use from the early 18th century.[3][6] The same loan is Dutch actief, English active and Swedish aktiv.[2] Of the same Latin family are agieren and Akt.[2]

The neuter noun “Aktiv” “working group of activists”, current in East Germany, was modelled on Russian актив (aktív).[2][3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Latin adverb active is used in German texts from 1541, and the German form from 1563, in a theological text saying that a man dead to the good cannot be activ in his conversion, but only passive.[8][6] The earliest sense is “acting”, as the opposite of passiv.[8]

Semantic evolution

From the 17th century it also meant “energetic, busy, enterprising” (1641: a man who is activ and knows his way in the world).[8][6] From about 1700 it was used in commerce (Activ und Passiv Schulden, Stieler 1674, Aktivposten, 1769), and the noun Aktiva “assets” dates from the 18th century.[8][2][4] It became very common from the end of the 18th century.[3] In the army from 1808 it meant “in active service”, then also in student fraternities, politics and sport.[8][3] Legal and political phrases are aktive Bestechung (Börne, 1832) and aktives Wahlrecht (1881).[8] In the sciences it came to mean “strongly reactive” and, in radioaktiv (1903), “emitting radiation”.[3][8]

The grammatical noun Aktiv “active voice” was used in the Latin form Activum from the 17th century and appears without the ending in the 19th.[2][3][7]

Timeline

  • 1541 – the Latin adverb active in a German text.[8]
  • 1563 – first record of German activ.[8][6]
  • 1641 – the sense “energetic, worldly-wise” is recorded.[6]
  • 1674 – Stieler records Activ und Passiv Schulden.[8]
  • 1769 – Aktivposten is recorded.[8]
  • 1808 – aktiv “in active military service”.[8]
  • 1832 – Börne writes of aktive Bestechung.[8]
  • 1903 – radioaktiv is recorded.[8]
  • Mid-20th century – the noun Aktiv “work group”, after Russian.[3][7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Energetic, busy, enterprising: Unsere Nachbarin ist mit achtzig noch sehr aktiv.[9][1]
  2. Taking part oneself, not merely passive: sich aktiv an der Planung beteiligen.[9]
  3. Particularly effective: biologisch aktive Substanzen.[9]
  4. Marked by activity: aktiver Umweltschutz.[9]
  5. (military) Serving as a regular soldier: ein aktiver Offizier.[9]
  6. Taking a full part as a member of a club or society: ein aktives Mitglied.[9][10]
  7. (chemistry, physics) Strongly reactive; emitting radiation, as in radioaktiv.[3][10]
  8. (grammar) In the active voice.[1][10]

Word family

  • Aktiv
  • Aktiva
  • Aktivist
  • aktivieren
  • Aktivität
  • inaktiv
  • radioaktiv
  • passiv
  • agieren
  • Akt
  • English active

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 26
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 86
  5. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f Schulz, Hans; Basler, Otto, et al. (1913–1988), Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch, 7 vols., Strasbourg / Berlin: Trübner / De Gruyter; 2nd ed., ed. Gerhard Strauß et al. (1995–), Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; via OWID, Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache
  7. ^ a b c Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm, Neubearbeitung (1965–2018), ed. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, 9 vols. (A–F), Leipzig / Stuttgart: Hirzel, p. 2, 161
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  9. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  10. ^ a b c Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org