Etymologically
Log in

erfüllen

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 20:24. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ɛrˈfʏlən/, [ʔɛɐ̯ˈfʏlən][1]

Forms

erfüllen (third-person singular present erfüllt, past tense erfüllte, past participle erfüllt, auxiliary haben)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German ervüllen, inherited from Old High German irfullen, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *uʀfullijan, a prefixed form of füllen with er-.[1][2] The same formation is Middle Low German ervüllen, Middle Dutch ervollen, Old English āfyllan and Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐍆𐌿𐌻𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (usfulljan).[2][3] That verb continues the Germanic factitive Proto-Germanic *fulljaną (“to fill”), “to make full”, from Proto-Germanic *fullaz (“full”), the source of voll.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German irfullen is recorded in glosses of the last quarter of the 8th century and in the Isidor, Tatian, Otfrid and Notker, meaning “to fill, fill up, accomplish, complete”, and also “to say Compline”.[6][7] Otfrid (863–871) writes of the stone vessels at Cana: gibot tho selbo druhtin, siu wazares irfultin (“the Lord himself then commanded that they fill them with water”).[2]

Semantic evolution

The concrete sense “to make full” was common in Luther and wider than today, also sich erfüllen “to eat one's fill”; filling a vessel went out of use in the 19th century, while a room filled with smoke or scent remains.[8][2] Hunters still said that game erfüllt sich when it has fed.[3] Luther's Bible also uses it of time, da die zeit erfüllet war, and of a prophecy fulfilled.[8]

It came to mean “to fill someone with a feeling”, and, already in Old High German, “to grant, comply with” a wish, command or demand, today very common.[8] The noun Erfüllung (Middle High German ervüllunge) gives in Erfüllung gehen “to come true”;[8] Erfüllungsort (1869) is a legal term, and Erfüllungspolitik (1923) was a disparaging nationalist name for the Weimar governments' policy of fulfilling the Treaty of Versailles.[8]

Timeline

  • Last quarter of the 8th century – Old High German irfullen appears in glosses.[6]
  • 863–871 – Otfrid uses irfultin of filling vessels with water.[2]
  • 16th century – Luther uses it often, of filling, of time and of prophecy.[8]
  • 19th century – The sense “to put something into a vessel” becomes obsolete.[2]
  • 1869 – Erfüllungsort is recorded as a legal term.[8]
  • 1923 – Erfüllungspolitik is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To fill completely, spreading through a space: Rauch erfüllte die Küche “smoke filled the kitchen”.[9][1]
  2. To occupy someone's mind or feelings wholly;[9][10] (formal) to fill someone with a feeling.[9][10]
  3. To fulfil: to meet an obligation, expectation or demand; to grant a wish.[9][1]
  4. (reflexive) To come true.[9][1]
  5. (mathematics) To satisfy an equation or condition.[9]

Word family

  • Erfüllung
  • erfüllbar

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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, 1743
  3. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 3, 811
  4. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 322
  5. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 962
  6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  7. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 116
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  10. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org