besuchen

Forms

besuchen (third-person singular present besucht, past tense besuchte, past participle besucht, auxiliary haben)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German besuochen, inherited from Old High German bisuohhen (“to examine, try, inquire”), inherited from Proto-West Germanic *bisōkijan, formed from German be- + suchen.^[2][1][3] The same formation is Dutch bezoeken (“to visit”), Swedish besöka (“to visit”) and English beseech.^[1]

The verb suchen is Middle High German suochen, Old High German suohhen, Proto-Germanic *sōkijaną (“to seek”), also in Gothic 𐍃𐍉𐌺𐌾𐌰𐌽 (sōkjan), Old Norse sœkja and Old English sēcan.^[4][5] Outside Germanic it is compared with Latin sāgiō (“to perceive keenly”), Old Irish saigid (“seeks”), Ancient Greek ἡγέομαι (hēgéomai, “I lead”) and Hittite šakk- (“to know”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- (“to seek out”);^[4][6][5] Kluge and the Duden dictionary think it first described a hound picking up a scent.^[4][6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German bisuohhen is first recorded in Notker, about 1000, and in Williram, meaning to examine, test, inquire, try, afflict and seek out.^[3][7] The Duden dictionary notes that it was first a strengthened suchen, used especially in legal language for “to investigate”.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Already in Middle High German the verb was used in the present sense “to go to a place or a person”, with several specialisations, such as einen turnei besuochen “to attend a tournament”.^[6][8][2] After the Middle High German period it narrowed to visiting relatives and friends;^[2] Kluge dates this meaning to the 17th century.^[2] Until the 18th century it could still mean “to search, examine”, as in Luther's du prüfest mein Herz und besuchest es des Nachts.^[8]

The noun Besuch was formed back from the older Besuchung in the 18th century and was used for French visite.^[6][8] Today one also visits a museum, a town or a concert, and a sales representative visits customers.^[8][9]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – Notker uses Old High German bisuohhen “to examine”.^[3]
• Middle High German – besuochen is also used for going to a place or a person.^[6]
• 17th century – The modern sense “to visit friends or relatives” becomes established.^[2]
• 18th century – The noun Besuch replaces Besuchung and renders French visite.^[6][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To visit someone and spend some time with them: Am Sonntag besuchen wir die Großeltern.^[9][1]
2. To call on someone for professional reasons: Die Ärztin besucht ihre Patienten zu Hause.^[9]
3. To go to a place for a purpose: ein Museum besuchen.^[9][1]
4. To attend an event as a spectator or listener: Das Konzert war gut besucht.^[9][1]
5. To attend a school or other place of education: Sie besucht das Gymnasium.^[9][1]

Word family

• Besuch
• Besucher

Related words

• versuchen
• suchen
• heimsuchen

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
4. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 897
5. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 839
7. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 322
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag