Etymologically
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bestehen

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Pronunciation

  • /bəˈʃteːən/[1]

Forms

bestehen (irregular strong, third-person singular present besteht, past tense bestand, past participle bestanden, past subjunctive bestände or bestünde, auxiliary haben)[1] The perfect was formerly also formed with sein, in literature and still in dialect, as in Goethe's dieses Mädchen ist sehr wohl bestanden.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German bestān, inherited from Old High German bistān, formed from Old High German bi- + stān, the Old High German form of stehen.[1][3][4] Wiktionary sets up Proto-Germanic *bistāną.[1] The Middle High German variant bestēn has the vowel of stēn, which arose beside stān probably under the influence of gēn beside gān (“to go”).[5][1]

The root is Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand”) (in Pfeifer *stā-), also in Latin stō (“to stand”), Ancient Greek ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to set up”), Sanskrit तिष्ठति (tíṣṭhati, “stands”) and Lithuanian stóti (“to stand up”).[5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German bistān is recorded in Notker (about 1000) and the glosses, meaning “to remain, persist, exist”.[4] Middle High German bestān is common from the 11th century, meaning “to hold out, withstand, remain, persist”, and also “to assist” and “to attack”.[6]

Semantic evolution

Early New High German still used it for “to come to a stop”, as when Luther writes that a flow of blood ceased.[2] From “to stay standing” came “to hold one's ground, resist”, as in Luther's kein Tier konnte vor ihm bestehen, which led to in einer Prüfung bestehen “to pass an examination”.[2] Adelung records around 1800 that liquids were said to bestehen when they set, as water when it freezes.[7]

Auf etwas bestehen “to insist” took the dative, but also the accusative, as both occur in Goethe; the perfect long varied between sein and haben.[2] The sense later faded to “to exist”, as in die bestehenden Gesetze and the noun hundertjähriges Bestehen;[2] bestehen aus “to consist of” may imitate Latin constare ex.[2] Bestand is recorded from the 15th century, and beständig goes back to Middle High German bestendec.[3] In Switzerland the participle bestanden means “mature, proven”.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1000 – Old High German bistān is used by Notker.[4]
  • 1060–1080 – Middle High German bestān appears in the Genesis.[6]
  • 15th century – The noun Bestand is recorded.[3]
  • 16th century – Luther uses it for “to come to a stop” and “to hold one's ground”.[2]
  • c. 1800 – Adelung records the sense “to set, congeal”.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To exist, to be there: zwischen den Ländern besteht ein Abkommen.[8][1]
  2. To last, to endure: gegen die großen Ketten kann die Bäckerei kaum bestehen.[8]
  3. (with aus) To consist of: der Tisch besteht aus Eichenholz.[8][1]
  4. (with in) To consist in, to have as its essence: ihre Aufgabe besteht im Sortieren.[8]
  5. (transitive) To pass an examination: die Fahrprüfung bestehen.[8][1]
  6. (formal, dated) To come through, endure: eine Gefahr bestehen.[8]
  7. (with auf) To insist on: er bestand auf einer Antwort.[1][2]

Word family

  • Bestehen
  • Bestand
  • beständig
  • Beständigkeit
  • unbeständig
  • fortbestehen

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  3. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 818
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  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 Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  7. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf, p. 1, 928
  8. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag