Etymologically
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enthalten

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Pronunciation

  • [ʔɛntˈhal.tn̩], [ʔɛntˈhal.tən][1]

Forms

enthalten (class 7 strong, third-person singular present enthält, past tense enthielt, past participle enthalten, auxiliary haben)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German enthalten, formed from Middle High German ent- + halten.[1][2][3] Old High German has no example.[4] The same formation is Middle Low German enthōlden and Dutch onthouden.[2][1] Wiktionary suggests that innehalten and einhalten “to hold inside” influenced it, which is clearest in the sense “to contain” (compare Inhalt); Adelung also took the prefix in this sense to come from the preposition in.[1][5] Paul starts instead from “to hold up, support”, with the prefix in its old sense, and the DWB2 finds the link between the senses partly unclear.[6][2]

The verb halten is Old High German haltan, from Proto-Germanic *haldaną (“to hold, herd”), also Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌳𐌰𐌽 (haldan, “to herd”), Old English healdan and Old Norse halda.[7][8] Pfeifer connects it with Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“to drive”), assuming a first sense “to herd cattle”, while Seebold prefers a root meaning “to turn”; neither is certain.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle High German enthalten appears in the first third of the 12th century (Frau Ava's Leben Jesu) and in the Reimphysiologus (about 1120/30), where the wise man keeps his senses from too much wine.[3][2] Its early senses were “to stop, stand still”, “to hold back”, “to give lodging” and “to keep, protect”.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Early New High German had a wide range of senses: “to keep away from”, “to stay, dwell somewhere”, “to shelter, protect”, “to keep prisoner” and “to contain”.[9][4] Luther uses the reflexive sich enthalten “to stay, dwell” several times in the Bible, and it still occurs in Wieland and Goethe.[6][10] In the 19th and 20th centuries the senses narrowed to two: “to contain” and reflexive “to abstain from”.[2] The second, partly modelled on Latin abstineō, is now formal, and sich der Stimme enthalten is to abstain in a vote.[2][6][11] From it come enthaltsam “abstinent” and Enthaltsamkeit in the 18th century.[7][6]

Timeline

  • c. 1120/30 – First record, in the Reimphysiologus.[2]
  • 16th century – Luther uses sich enthalten for “to dwell”.[6]
  • 18th century – enthaltsam and Enthaltsamkeit are formed.[7]
  • 19th–20th century – The senses narrow to “contain” and “abstain”.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To contain, include or hold: Die Kanne enthält zwei Liter Tee.[11][1]
  2. (reflexive, formal) To abstain from something, with the genitive: sich des Rauchens enthalten.[11][1]
  3. (reflexive) To abstain in a vote;[11][1] sich der Stimme enthalten.[11][1]

Adjective

  1. Contained, included: Die Steuer ist im Preis enthalten.[11][1]

Word family

  • enthaltsam
  • Enthaltsamkeit
  • Enthaltung
  • vorenthalten

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. 8, 1412
  3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  4. ^ a b c Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 3, 549
  5. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 4, 785
  9. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
  10. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf, p. 1, 1824
  11. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag