durchaus

Forms

durchaus^[1]

Etymology

It is from German durch + aus, recorded from the 14th century, and first meant “through and out”, then “completely”.^[2][3] Wiktionary traces it to the late medieval phrase Middle High German durch ūȥ (“entirely through, all the way”);^[1] Köbler lists the adverb durchūz (“entirely, as a whole”).^[4] The Grimms' dictionary, on the other hand, thought the compound arose only in the 16th century.^[5] Compare English throughout and Yiddish דורכויס (durkhoys).^[1]

Its first part, durch, is duruh, from Proto-Germanic *þurh, which stands in ablaut with Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌷 (þairh, “through”); outside Germanic it is related to Latin trāns (“across, beyond”) and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ter- (“to cross over, pass through”).^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Early New High German durchaus was an adverb of space, “all the way through, the whole length or breadth”, and also “everywhere, all over”.^[7][3] Paul quotes Luther, who says of a house that its length was durchaus a hundred ells, that is, as a whole.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The spatial sense, used from the 14th to the 17th century, gave “from beginning to end, always” and “wholly, entirely, in every respect”, which Pfeifer and Paul date to the 15th century;^[3][8][7] Duden places this figurative use only in the 18th century.^[6] Goethe's Faust says he has studied philosophy, law and medicine durchaus, that is, thoroughly.^[8]

With a verb of wishing it came to mean “at all costs, insisting despite objections” (er will es durchaus haben), and durchaus nicht means “not at all”.^[8][9] The stress was originally on -aus, but it is now often drawn back to durch, a result of stressing both parts emphatically.^[8]

Timeline

• 14th century – durchaus is first recorded.^[2]
• 14th–17th century – Used as an adverb of space, “all the way through”.^[3]
• 15th century – First record of the sense “completely, in every respect”.^[3][8]
• 16th century – The Grimms' dictionary finds its first records of the compound.^[5]
• 18th century – Duden's date for the figurative sense “entirely, absolutely”.^[6]

Meanings

Adverb

1. At all costs, absolutely, insisting on something: Sie wollte durchaus mitfahren.^[9][10]
2. Entirely, quite, certainly: Das ist durchaus möglich.^[9][1]
3. durchaus nicht: not at all, by no means.^[9]

Related words

• durch
• aus
• durchweg
• English throughout

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 223
3. ^ a b c d e f Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
5. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 2, 1583
6. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
7. ^ a b Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b c d Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
10. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org