Etymologically
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ergänzen

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Pronunciation

  • [ɛɐ̯ˈɡɛntsən][1]

Forms

ergänzen (third-person singular present ergänzt, past tense ergänzte, past participle ergänzt, auxiliary haben)[1]

Etymology

It is from German er- + ganz, a prefixed derivative of the adjective meaning “whole”, with umlaut.[2][1][3] The revised Grimm allows it to be either that or a prefixed form of Middle High German genzen (“to make whole”), early New High German gänzen, and the Wiktionary DE entry takes it from that vanished verb.[4][5] Pfeifer compares Middle Low German gansen (“to make whole”) and the uncertain Old High German ganzēn (“to save, protect; to be sound”) of the 9th century.[6][7]

The adjective ganz, ganz (“sound, whole”), Proto-West Germanic *gant, was originally only High German and spread northwards (gans, Dutch gans).[6][2][1] Its further origin is unclear: Kluge compares the comparative Lithuanian gandžiaus (“rather”) of Old Lithuanian and a root Proto-Indo-European *gʰond- (“enough, ready”), while Pfeifer considers Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- (“to swell, abound”).[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is common from the early 16th century, meaning “to repair, make good” and “to complete”.[6][4][8] An earlier record in Johann von Neumarkt (about 1370) depends on an editor's conjecture.[4] The noun Ergänzung is recorded in 1508 in the sense “compensation”.[8]

Semantic evolution

The older sense was “to restore what is damaged”: Luther wrote of restoring and repairing everything, and in 1525 subjects were ordered to rebuild a pond.[8][4] Adelung (1793) still lists zerbrochene Brücken ergänzen “to repair broken bridges”, but as Upper German only; the general language kept the figurative “to supply what is missing”, such as gaps in a book.[9] The reflexive and reciprocal uses (a committee that fills its own vacancies, two people who complement each other) followed.[8][3] The Grimms record the opposites entgänzen and zergänzen.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 1370 – A doubtful record in Johann von Neumarkt.[4]
  • 1508 – Ergänzung “compensation” is recorded.[8]
  • 1519 – Linck writes of a rift in the heart being mended through Christ.[4]
  • 1525 – An order to restore a pond.[4]
  • 1752 – Wieland describes the hundred-headed dragon that keeps restoring itself.[4]
  • 1793 – Adelung labels the physical sense Upper German.[9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To complete by filling gaps; to add to, supplement: die Bibliothek um neue Bände ergänzen.[3][1]
  2. (reflexive) To become complete again, to fill one's own vacancies.[3]
  3. To complement, be added to: Fotos ergänzen den Bericht.[3][1]
  4. To add as a further remark: Darf ich noch etwas ergänzen?[3]
  5. (reflexive or reciprocal) To complement one another: Die Geschwister ergänzen sich gut.[3]

Word family

  • Ergänzung

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 332
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  4. ^ 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, 1750
  5. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf, p. 1, 1891
  10. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 3, 815