Etymologically
Log in

begrüßen

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 20:21. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /bəˈɡʁyːsən/, [bəˈɡʁyːsn̩][1]

Forms

begrüßen (third-person singular present begrüßt, past tense begrüßte, past participle begrüßt, auxiliary haben)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German begrüezen, inherited from Old High German bigruozen (“to greet, address”), formed from Old High German bi- + gruozen, the prefix be- added to grüßen.[1][2][3] Wiktionary sets up Proto-West Germanic *bigrōtijan, with the cognates Dutch begroeten, West Frisian begroetsje, Low German begröten and in English begreet.[1]

The base verb is gruozen, Old Saxon grōtian, from West Germanic *grōtijan.[4] Its origin is unclear.[4] Pfeifer derives it from Proto-Germanic *grōtjan (“to make cry out”), a causative of the verb seen in Gothic 𐌲𐍂𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌽 (grētan, “to weep”), probably of imitative origin, but Kluge finds that family too far off in meaning and considers instead a borrowing based on Latin grātus (“welcome, pleasing”), though Latin has no exact model.[5][6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German bigruozen is found once, in an 11th-century gloss, meaning “to greet, address, speak to, call to oneself”.[2] Middle High German begrüezen, first in the Marienleben (1172–1190), meant “to greet, welcome” but also “to challenge” and, in law, “to summon, accuse”.[7]

Semantic evolution

Like grüßen, which in Old and Middle High German also meant “to challenge, attack”, the compound kept a hostile sense for a time;[5][8][9] Adelung still records the ironic den Feind mit Kanonen begrüßen “to greet the enemy with cannon”.[5][8][9] Early New High German jemanden um etwas begrüßen meant “to ask someone for something”, still used by Goethe in Faust and in dialects; in Switzerland begrüßen still means to consult an authority before acting.[9][10][8]

The transferred sense “to welcome an idea or decision, approve of it” is more recent and is now very common in political language: einen Entschluss begrüßen.[9][10]

Timeline

  • 11th century – Old High German bigruozen appears in a gloss.[2]
  • 1172–1190 – Middle High German begrüezen in the Marienleben.[7]
  • Late 18th century – Adelung records the ironic den Feind mit Kanonen begrüßen and jemanden um etwas begrüßen “to ask”.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To greet or welcome someone; reflexive sich begrüßen, to greet each other.[10][1]
  2. To welcome something as good, to approve of it: Die Gewerkschaft begrüßt den Vorschlag.[10][3]
  3. (Switzerland) To consult a person or authority for their opinion.[10]
  4. (dated) To ask someone for something, as in Goethe's Faust.[10][9]

Word family

  • Begrüßung

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  3. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  4. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 379
  5. ^ a b c Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  6. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 343
  7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  8. ^ a b c d Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
  9. ^ a b c d e Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  10. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag