erhöhen

Forms

erhöhen (third-person singular present erhöht, past tense erhöhte, past participle erhöht, auxiliary haben)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German erhœhen, inherited from Old High German irhōhen, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *uʀhauhijan (“to raise”), formed with the prefix er- from the verb höhen, itself from hoch.^[2][1][3][4] The same formation is Middle Low German erhȫgen, Middle Dutch erhogen and Old Dutch irhōen.^[2][1]

That adjective is Middle High German hōch, Old High German hōh, Proto-Germanic *hauhaz (“high”), also in Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐌷𐍃 (hauhs), Old Norse hár and Old English hēah.^[3][5] Its further origin is unclear.^[3] Kluge compares perhaps Tocharian B kauc (“up, high”) and connects it with Sanskrit शवीर (śávīra, “strong, mighty”) and Ancient Greek κύριος (kúrios, “lord”), from an original sense “great, strong”, rather than with Hügel.^[3] Pfeifer and the Duden dictionary instead take both words from the root Proto-Indo-European *kewk- (“to bend, arch”), so that the adjective first meant “arched upwards”.^[6][4] Kroonen reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *kóuk-o-.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German irhōhen first appears in a 9th-century gloss, rendering Latin inaltavit “has raised high” in a verse about a heap of grain.^[2] Köbler lists the Old High German verb with the senses “to raise, praise, glorify”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Middle High German erhœhen meant to lift up, raise the Cross, set up, glorify, raise in rank or reputation, praise, strengthen and increase.^[7] In the 14th century it could also mean to hang someone on the gallows: an Austrian chronicle tells how Alexander had Darius's murderers erhöhen.^[2] Luther's Bible uses it for Moses lifting up the serpent and for the Son of Man being lifted up.^[2]

Today the commonest sense is “to increase” prices, taxes or speed.^[8] In music it means to raise a note by a semitone.^[8] The saying Wer sich selbst erhöht, der wird erniedrigt comes from Matthew 23:12.^[8]

Timeline

• 9th century – Old High German irhōhit glosses Latin inaltavit.^[2]
• 14th century – Used for hanging someone on the gallows in an Austrian chronicle.^[2]
• c. 1466 – The first printed German Bible uses derhöhen of Moses lifting up the serpent.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make higher, raise: Der Deich wurde um zwei Meter erhöht.^[8][1]
2. To increase, raise prices, taxes, speed and the like: Die Bahn erhöht die Preise.^[8][1]
3. (reflexive) To increase, rise: Die Zahl der Teilnehmer hat sich auf 50 erhöht.^[8]
4. To raise someone in rank; to exalt.^[8][1]
5. (music) To raise a note by a semitone.^[8]

Word family

• Erhöhung
• erhöht

Related words

• hoch
• Höhe
• Hoheit
• English high

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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, 1825
3. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 419
4. ^ a b Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 373
5. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
6. ^ Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag