Etymologically
Log in

fragen

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 18:01. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ˈfʁaːɡən/, [ˈfʁaːɡŋ̩][1]

Forms

fragen (weak or mixed, third-person singular present fragt or (dialectal or colloquial) frägt, past tense fragte or (dialectal or colloquial) frug, past participle gefragt, past subjunctive fragte or (dialectal or colloquial) früge, auxiliary haben)[1] From the 18th century strong forms such as the past frug spread from Low German.[2] Middle High German and the dialects into the 20th century also had a by-form vregen.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German vrāgen, inherited from Old High German frāgēn, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *frāgēn.[1][3] The same verb is Old Saxon frāgon, Old Frisian frēgia and Dutch vragen.[3][1][2] Though better attested than the noun, the verb is derived from Frage, Old High German frāga;[3][4][5] the noun, found only in German and Dutch, is a lengthened-grade abstract of a Germanic strong verb that has died out in German.[3][4][6]

That verb is Proto-Germanic *fregnaną, seen in Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌽𐌰𐌽 (fraihnan), Old Norse fregna and Old English frignan, and in Old High German only in gafregin (“I learned”) in the Wessobrunn Prayer.[3][1][7] It goes back to Proto-Indo-European *preḱ- (“to ask”), also found in Latin precor (“I pray, entreat”), Lithuanian pir̃šti (“to ask for a girl's hand for someone”) and Old Church Slavonic просити (prositi, “to ask for”).[3][4] The same root, with another suffix, gives forschen.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German frāgēn is recorded from the 8th century;[3][4] the Old High German Isidor (end of the 8th century) has dher unchilaubo fraghet “the unbeliever asks”.[2] It meant to ask, question, examine and investigate, and with nāh or bī “to ask after”.[8][9]

Semantic evolution

Middle High German vrāgen also meant “to ask for, request” and “to interrogate”;[10] the judicial use survived in peinlich fragen, to question under torture, which Adelung still records.[11] Luther's wer viel fragt, wird ungenem (1527) “whoever asks much becomes unwelcome” is quoted in the revised Grimm dictionary.[2]

Fragezeichen is a 16th-century translation of Latin signum interrogationis.[4][6] fraglich “questionable” appears at the beginning of the 17th century but became usual only in the 19th,[4] and fragwürdig was formed around 1800 after English questionable, first meaning “worth asking about”, later “doubtful, suspect”.[6]

Timeline

  • 8th century – First record of frāgēn.[3]
  • End of the 8th century – The Old High German Isidor uses the verb.[2]
  • 1527 – Luther: wer viel fragt, wird ungenem.[2]
  • 16th century – Fragezeichen is formed.[4]
  • Early 17th century – fraglich appears.[4]
  • 18th century – Strong forms such as frug spread from Low German.[2]
  • c. 1800 – fragwürdig is formed after English questionable.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To ask: to address someone expecting an answer or information: Sie fragte ihn nach dem Weg.[12][1]
  2. To ask questions: Er fragt immer sehr genau.[12]
  3. (fragen nach) To inquire about someone or something: Hat jemand nach mir gefragt?[12][1]
  4. (fragen nach, usually negated) To care about: Niemand fragte nach den alten Nachbarn.[12]
  5. (sich fragen) To wonder: Ich frage mich, ob das stimmt.[12][1]

Word family

  • fragwürdig
  • fraglich
  • abfragen
  • anfragen
  • ausfragen
  • befragen
  • durchfragen
  • erfragen
  • herumfragen
  • hinterfragen
  • nachfragen
  • Umfrage

Usage notes

Beside the weak forms (fragte, gefragt), colloquial and regional German has strong ones: frägt, frug, früge.[1][12] Duden's large dictionary quotes frug from Büchner and Storm.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. 9, 862
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 313
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  5. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  7. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 4, 49
  8. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 112
  9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  10. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  11. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag