Etymologically
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erwarten

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Pronunciation

  • /ɛɐ̯ˈvaʁtən/[1]

Forms

erwarten (third-person singular present erwartet, past tense erwartete, past participle erwartet, auxiliary haben)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German erwarten, inherited from Old High German irwartēn (“to look at, inspect”), formed from Old High German ir- + wartēn; the base is the verb now warten.[2][3][4] It corresponds to Middle Low German erwārden.[3] The base verb at first meant “to look out, keep watch”;[5][6] Proto-Germanic *wardāną is also continued in Old English weardian and Old Norse varða, and is built on the root of wahren.[5][6]

For waiting the older language used Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐌱𐌴𐌹𐌳𐌰𐌽 (usbeidan), irbītan, Middle High German erbîten, which survived in New High German as ⟨erbeiten⟩.[7] As the base verb itself came to mean “to wait”, the prefixed verb took over the sense “to expect”; the Grimms compare the way Latin exspectō belongs with spectō (“to look at”).[7][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Old High German verb is recorded only once, in Notker (before 1022), meaning “to look over, inspect”: Nero eruuarteta the body of his murdered mother.[3][4] Middle High German erwarten meant “to look up”, and also “to await, look forward to” and “to claim at law”; one of the first records is a charter of 1289.[8][9]

Semantic evolution

The sense “to wait for” is already found in Geiler von Kaysersberg, and Luther uses it.[7] Until the 18th century the verb mostly took a genitive, as in ich aber wil des gottes meines heils erwarten (Micah 7:7 in Luther's Bible), and then the accusative prevailed.[3][7] The old main sense “to wait until something happens” became dated from the 18th century and survives only in fixed phrases, while “to expect, consider likely” and “to demand of someone” have grown towards the present.[3]

Adelung, around 1800, records the full modern range: awaiting someone's arrival, supposing that something will happen (Ich erwarte Briefe), facing something without fear, and a mild word for demanding.[10][2] Ein Kind erwarten “to be pregnant” is a euphemism.[2][8]

Timeline

  • Before 1022 – Old High German irwartēn “to inspect” appears in Notker.[3]
  • 1289 – Middle High German erwarten appears in a charter.[9]
  • 18th century – The accusative replaces the genitive, and the sense “to wait until” becomes dated.[3]
  • 1774 – Adelung records wider alle Erwartung.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To await, look forward to someone's arrival or an event taken as certain: Wir erwarten heute Abend Gäste.[8][1]
  2. To expect, consider likely: Für morgen ist kein Schnee zu erwarten.[8][1]
  3. To expect of someone, take as a matter of course: Ich erwarte von euch Pünktlichkeit.[8][11]
  4. With a reflexive dative, to hope for something, promise oneself something from: Sie erwartet sich viel von der neuen Stelle.[8]

Word family

  • Erwartung
  • erwartbar
  • unerwartet

Usage notes

Ein Kind erwarten is to be pregnant.[8] The noun in wider Erwarten “contrary to expectation” is the infinitive used as a noun;[8][2] Adelung wrote wider alle Erwartung in 1774.[8][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  3. ^ a b c d e f g 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, 2274
  4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  5. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 972
  6. ^ a b 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 c d Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 3, 1044
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  10. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf, p. 1, 1951
  11. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org