Etymologically
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erfolgreich

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Forms

erfolgreich (strong nominative masculine singular erfolgreicher, comparative erfolgreicher, superlative am erfolgreichsten)[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from German Erfolg + reich, “rich in successes”.[1][2][3]

The first part is a back-formation of the 17th century from erfolgen in the old sense “to attain, obtain”, perhaps influenced by French succès and succéder.[4] The verb belongs to folgen, whose origin is unexplained despite many attempts.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record in the revised Grimm dictionary is from 1826, describing many-sided and successful investigations of whole groups of diseases.[3] The older Grimm dictionary gives the adjective with the Latin gloss prosper, and an adverbial example about successfully counteracting an evil.[6]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word has had its two present senses: of people, distinguished by successes, and of actions and undertakings, having a positive result.[3] The quotations range from science (1826) to religion, with Oldenberg's Buddha (1881), and to machines that competed successfully with human labour in road building (1910).[3]

Timeline

  • 17th century – The noun Erfolg appears.[4]
  • 1826 – First record of erfolgreich.[3]
  • 1881 – Oldenberg uses the superlative am erfolgreichsten.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. successful: having many successes: eine erfolgreiche Chirurgin; in football, a forward who is erfolgreich has scored.[7][1]
  2. Having a positive result: ein erfolgreicher Versuch, erfolgreiche Verhandlungen.[7][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  3. ^ 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, 1727
  4. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 254
  5. ^ Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  6. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 3, 804
  7. ^ a b Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag