Etymologically
Log in

diskutieren

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 20:05. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /dɪskuˈtiːʁən/[1]

Forms

diskutieren (third-person singular present diskutiert, past tense diskutierte, past participle diskutiert, auxiliary haben)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin discutiō (“to strike apart; to examine, discuss”), borrowed in the 16th century.[2][3] Duden dates the verb to the early 17th century and thinks it probably came through French discuter.[4] The Latin verb is formed from dis- (“apart”) and quatiō (“to shake, strike”); it first meant “to shatter, break up” and in Late Latin “to examine a matter, discuss”, taking it apart point by point.[2][3][4] The Latin base verb is related to schütten.[2][4] The same word is Dutch discussiëren, English discuss, Swedish diskutera and Norwegian Bokmål diskutere.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Paul's earliest record is the verbal noun discutirung in Fischart, 1582.[5] The revised Grimms' dictionary, which finds the verb itself from the 18th century, quotes it in 1824 of a decree being debated.[6]

Semantic evolution

The verb became more frequent only in the 19th century, when it took the place of the older disputieren, diskurrieren and debattieren, and its use grew strongly in the 20th century.[5][6] The noun Diskussion came separately from Latin discussio in the 16th century and became common in the 18th;[3][5] zur Diskussion stellen is recorded from 1835 and zur Diskussion stehen from 1897.[3][5] diskutabel, from French discutable, first meant “open to dispute” and later “worth considering”, and indiskutabel “out of the question” is recorded from 1843 or around 1900.[3][5] Russian дискутировать (diskutírovatʹ) is borrowed from the German verb.[1]

Timeline

  • 1582 – Fischart uses discutirung.[5]
  • Early 17th century – The verb is in use, according to Duden.[4]
  • 1824 – über ein Dekret diskutieren, “to debate a decree”.[6]
  • 1835 – zur Diskussion stellen is recorded.[5]
  • 1843 – Kaltschmidt records diskutabel and indiskutabel.[5]
  • 20th century – The verb becomes much more frequent.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To exchange views in a discussion; to argue a point: Wir diskutierten bis Mitternacht über den Film.[7][1]
  2. To talk something over in order to reach agreement: darüber lässt sich diskutieren, that is open to negotiation.[7]
  3. To debate something in detail: Der Ausschuss diskutiert den Entwurf am Montag.[7][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 205
  3. ^ a b c d e 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 c d Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 207
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c d Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm, Neubearbeitung (1965–2018), ed. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, 9 vols. (A–F), Leipzig / Stuttgart: Hirzel, p. 6, 1143
  7. ^ a b c Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  8. ^ Duden. Das Fremdwörterbuch (2007), 9th ed., Duden vol. 5, Mannheim: Dudenverlag