Etymologically
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besetzen

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Pronunciation

  • /bəˈzɛtsən/, /b̥eˈsɛtsɛn/[1]
  • Germany: [bəˈzɛtsn̩][1]
  • Austria: [b̥eˈsɛtsn̩][1]

Forms

besetzen (third-person singular present besetzt, past tense besetzte, past participle besetzt, auxiliary haben)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German besetzen, inherited from Old High German bisezzen, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *bisattjan, inherited from Proto-Germanic *bisatjaną (“to set around; to occupy”), made with the prefix be- from the verb setzen.[1][2][3] The same compound is Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐍃𐌰𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (bisatjan, “to surround with”), Old English besettan, Dutch bezetten, Swedish besätta and Danish besætte, and in English beset.[4][1]

The base verb is a causative of sitzen, so that it first meant “to make sit, let sit”.[5][6] It goes back to Proto-Germanic *satjaną (“to set”), also found in Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (satjan), Old Norse setja and settan.[5][7] Kroonen traces it to a causative Proto-Indo-European *sod-éye- of the root Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“to sit”), and Kluge and Pfeifer compare the causatives Sanskrit सादयति (sādáyati, “makes sit”) and Lithuanian sodìnti (“to set, plant”).[7][8][6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German bisezzen appears in glosses from about 765 and in Notker, meaning “to watch over, occupy, set up, install” and “to plant”.[8] In Middle High German, from the Jüngere Judith (1130/1150) on, besetzen meant “to occupy (also militarily), to fill an office, to grant as a fief, to besiege, to lay down”.[9]

Semantic evolution

Early New High German used the verb for many ways of filling or furnishing a thing: paving a road with stones, planting a field, stocking a pond with fish, laying a table and trimming a garment.[10] The Grimms' dictionary starts from lands, towns and castles “set” with people, as in Luther's Bible, which led to the sense “to occupy with troops”.[4][3] Filling a seat or post (eine Stelle besetzen) and casting a play (Schiller wrote of how hard it would be to cast a part) are also old.[3]

The noun Besatzung (Middle High German besatzunge) has meant the troops that hold a place, or an occupation, since the 16th century, and Besatzungsmacht “occupying power” became common in the Second World War and after.[3] In recent political language ein Haus besetzen is to move into an empty building without the owner's consent, a Hausbesetzung.[3][2]

Timeline

  • 8th century – Old High German bisezzen appears in glosses.[8]
  • 1130/1150 – Middle High German besetzen in the Jüngere Judith.[9]
  • 16th century – Besatzung comes to mean an occupying garrison.[3]
  • 1940s – Besatzungsmacht “occupying power” is used during and after the Second World War.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To trim or decorate with something sewn or stuck on: einen Kragen mit Pelz besetzen.[2][11]
  2. To occupy or reserve a place or seat; in the past participle besetzt “taken, not free”, also of an engaged telephone line or toilet.[2][11]
  3. To fill a post or position; in theatre and film, to cast a role or production.[2][1]
  4. To occupy a territory militarily and hold it as a foreign power.[2][1]
  5. To take possession of a building or place, as demonstrators or squatters do: eine leere Fabrikhalle besetzen.[2][3]

Word family

  • Besatzung
  • Besetzer
  • Besetzung
  • Besatzungsmacht
  • Hausbesetzer

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 1, 1618
  5. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 846
  6. ^ a b Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  7. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  10. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
  11. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org