bestätigen

Forms

bestätigen (third-person singular present bestätigt, past tense bestätigte, past participle bestätigt, auxiliary haben)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German bestætigen (“to make firm, confirm”), formed with the prefix be- from the adjective stætec (“firm, constant”), today's stetig.^[2][3][4] Kluge allows that it may instead be derived from bestætec.^[2] It took the place of an older verb bestæten, formed from stæte (“firm, steady”), modern stet.^[5][3] Old High German had the unprefixed stātigōn (“to fix, make firm”).^[4][6]

The adjectives go back to Old High German stāti.^[7] Kluge connects them ultimately with stehen, although the vowel does not fit well.^[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Kluge dates the verb to the 13th century,^[2] but Köbler lists it already for the Middle High German Genesis (1060–1080).^[8] In Middle High German it meant “to make firm, confirm”, and also “to arrest, take in”.^[3][8]

Semantic evolution

Until the 19th century the verb often kept the sense of its base, “to make lasting, steady”:^[3][5] a book printed at Augsburg in 1483 says that the hot oven makes the potter's vessels firm,^[9] and Luther wrote that the Lord would establish David's throne for ever.^[9] Wieland used it of strengthening a resolve and Goethe of the weather becoming settled.^[5] Hunters say that they bestätigen game when they make sure, with a tracking dog, that it is in a place before the hunt.^[10][5] In the 16th century the verb was also used for “to bury”, under the influence of bestatten.^[10]

The modern senses are “to make legally valid by assent”, as with a law, a contract or an election, and “to show to be true by evidence”, as a witness confirms a statement.^[5] Adelung (1793) already called the physical sense obsolete in High German.^[9]

Timeline

• 1060–1080 – Köbler lists the verb for the Middle High German Genesis.^[8]
• 13th century – Kluge's date for the first record.^[2]
• 1483 – A book printed at Augsburg uses it of firing pottery.^[9]
• 16th century – Luther and others use it for “to bury”.^[10]
• 1793 – Adelung marks the senses “to make firm, lasting” as obsolete.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To confirm, declare to be correct: Die Firma bestätigte den Termin per E-Mail.^[11][1]
2. To bear out, corroborate: Die Messungen bestätigen die Theorie. Reflexive, to prove true: Die Befürchtung hat sich leider bestätigt.^[11][1]
3. (sport) To prove again, live up to: Sie bestätigte ihre gute Form mit einem Sieg.^[11]
4. (commerce) To acknowledge receipt of something: den Eingang der Zahlung bestätigen.^[11]
5. To confirm someone in an office: Der Rat bestätigte sie als Vorsitzende.^[11][5]
6. (hunting) To establish that game is present in an area: einen Keiler bestätigen.^[11][10]

Word family

• Bestätigung

Related words

• stet
• stetig
• stehen

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 115
3. ^ a b c d 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
5. ^ a b c d e f Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
7. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 883
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
9. ^ a b c d e Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
10. ^ a b c d Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 1, 1656
11. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag