Etymologically
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angesichts

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈʔanɡəzɪçts/[1]

Forms

angesichts[1]

Etymology

It is from German Angesicht + -s, the genitive of the noun used as a preposition.[2][3][1] Kluge notes that it keeps what was probably the noun's original meaning, “looking, sight”, since Angesicht, Middle High German angesiht, Old Saxon angisiht, was first an abstract noun from ansehen and only later took on the sense “face” under the influence of Gesicht.[4] Pfeifer gives the oldest form as Old High German anagisiht;[5] Gesicht itself is gisiht, Proto-West Germanic *ga-sehti-, an abstract noun from sehen.[5] Paul credits Luther with turning the genitive into the preposition.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest examples come from the Peasants' War: a letter written after 1527 asks the recipients to come angesichts dis briefs, as soon as they have read this letter.[3] Luther wrote in 1533 that he had hoped the Elector would do everything angesichts seiner schrifft, on seeing his letter.[3][7]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century the word meant “at the sight of, on receipt of”, and a record of 1557 adds the sense “in the presence of, before the eyes of”.[3] It was also an adverb, “at once, immediately”, used by Opitz and still by Goethe.[6][8][7] Adelung (1793) found it unusual in High German in both senses.[9] The modern meaning, “in view of, considering”, grew out of the sense “before the eyes of”, and the word belongs today to formal language.[8][10] When no genitive is marked it is followed by von.[10]

Timeline

  • After 1527 – First record, in a letter of the Peasants' War.[3]
  • 1533 – Luther uses it for “on seeing”.[3]
  • 1557 – First record of the sense “in the presence of”.[3]
  • 1793 – Adelung calls the word unusual in High German.[9]

Meanings

Preposition

  1. (formal) At the sight of, faced with: angesichts der hohen Wellen.[10][1]
  2. (formal) In view of, considering: Angesichts der Kosten verzichtete die Stadt auf den Neubau.[10][1]

Adverb

  1. With von: at the sight of, in view of: angesichts von so viel Lärm.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  3. ^ a b c d e f g 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, 973
  4. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 45
  5. ^ a b Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  6. ^ a b Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  7. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 1, 351
  8. ^ a b Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
  9. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
  10. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag