Etymologically
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bestätigen

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Pronunciation

  • /bəˈʃtɛːtɪɡən/, [bəˈʃtɛːtɪɡŋ̍][1]
  • Colloquial: /bəˈʃteːtɪɡən/, [bəˈʃteːtɪɡŋ̍][1]

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

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