Etymologically
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ersetzen

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Pronunciation

  • /ʔɛɐ̯ˈzɛtsn̩/, /ʔɛɐ̯ˈzɛtsən/[1]

Forms

ersetzen (third-person singular present ersetzt, past tense ersetzte, past participle ersetzt, auxiliary haben)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German ersetzen, inherited from Old High German irsezzen (“to restore, replace”), with the prefix ir- (er-) and setzen.[1][2][3] Corresponding prefixed verbs are Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐍃𐌰𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (ussatjan, “to plant”) and Old English āsettan.[4][5] The base sezzen is Proto-Germanic *satjaną (“to set”), the causative of “to sit” (sitzen), also in 𐍃𐌰𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (satjan), Old Norse setja and Old English settan;[6][2][7] it continues Proto-Indo-European *sodéyeti, from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“to sit”), with the same causative in Old Church Slavonic садити (saditi, “to set, plant”).[1][7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German irsezzen glosses Latin rependere in the 8th century, and about 830 the Tatian uses it for the healing of the withered hand: inti arsezit uuard heili sín hánt “and his hand was restored to health”.[5][8] It also meant “to set up, prepare” a drink.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Middle High German ersetzen meant “to fill a gap, put in (a new plant), patch (a garment), season”, and also “to make good a loss”, a legal sense already established then.[2][9][4] From filling a gap came “to put in the place of”, the main modern sense.[4][9] The noun Ersatz (Middle High German ersaz) first meant “penalty” (Swiss, 1456) and only from the middle of the 18th century “what serves as a replacement”.[9][2]

Timeline

  • 8th century – irsazta in an Old High German gloss.[5]
  • c. 830 – arsezit “restored” in the Tatian.[5]
  • c. 1185 – Hartmann's Erec uses ersetzet “made good”.[5]
  • 1456 – Ersatz “penalty” in a Swiss record.[9]
  • Mid-18th century – Ersatz “replacement”.[9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To replace, put someone or something in the place of another: die alten Fenster durch neue ersetzen.[10][1]
  2. To take the place of, serve as a substitute for: Die Großmutter ersetzt ihm die Eltern.[10][11]
  3. To reimburse, make good a damage or expense: jemandem die Reisekosten ersetzen.[10][11]

Word family

  • Ersatz
  • Ersetzung
  • ersetzbar
  • unersetzlich

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  3. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th 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, 982
  5. ^ a b c d e 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, 2166
  6. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 846
  7. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  8. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 279
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ a b c Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  11. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org