Etymologically
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gegen

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈɡe.ɡən/, [ˈɡeː.ɡn̩], [ˈɡeː.ɡŋ̍][1]

Forms

gegen (preposition with the accusative)[1] In older German it took the dative, beside which the accusative appears from the 11th century;[2] Luther used both, and the dative still occurs in Lessing and Goethe (gegen ihr über).[2] Middle High German contracted it to gein, gēn, from which comes biblical and poetic gen.[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German gegen, inherited from Old High German gagan (also ⟨gegin⟩), inherited from Proto-West Germanic *gagin, inherited from Proto-Germanic *gagin.[5][1] Kluge sets up the Germanic forms ⟨*gagna-⟩, as in Old Norse gagn and Old English geagn, and ⟨*gegni-⟩, as in gegn, gegn and Old Frisian jēn.[5] Related are Old Saxon gegin-, Middle Dutch jeghen and Old English ongegn, the source of English again.[3][4] Kluge compares Old Norse gaghals (“with the head bent back”).[5]

There are no clear comparisons outside Germanic, and the word is of unknown origin.[5][3][4] Orel tentatively derives the word from Proto-Germanic *ganganą (“to go”) by metathesis;[1] Wiktionary also mentions an analysis as Proto-Germanic *ga- (“with”) and a negative element, “not with”.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German gagan, gegin is recorded from the 9th century, first in the Benedictine Rule (about 800), then in glosses, the Murbach hymns and Notker.[6][7] With the dative it meant “towards, against, opposite, in relation to, in exchange for”, with the accusative “in the direction of”.[6][8]

Semantic evolution

The word first gave a direction, “towards”, in space (gegen den Baum laufen) and in time (gegen Abend), and then a relation to people or things (gütig gegen alte Leute “kind to old people”).[3] From this came the sense “against”, of deliberate opposition or hostility.[3] The spatial sense “towards” was common with verbs of motion until about 1800 and is now nearly obsolete.[2]

The word forms many compounds, such as Gegensatz (15th century, probably a loan translation of Latin oppositio) and Gegenstand (16th century).[4] The derived verb Middle High German gegenen “to meet” died out, but begegnen and entgegnen remain;[4] entgegnen has meant “to reply” only since about 1800.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 800 – Old High German gagan appears in the Benedictine Rule.[7][6]
  • 11th century – gegen begins to take the accusative.[2]
  • 15th century – Gegensatz is formed.[4]
  • 16th century – Gegenstand is recorded.[4]
  • c. 1800 – The spatial sense “towards” becomes rare;[2][4] entgegnen takes the sense “to reply”.[2][4]

Meanings

Preposition

  1. against: in opposition to, to counter (gegen den Hunger kämpfen).[9][1]
  2. Against, onto, in collision with (gegen die Wand stoßen); also against a current (gegen den Wind).[9]
  3. Towards, in the direction of.[9][1]
  4. Towards, in relation to a person (gütig gegen alte Leute).[3][1]
  5. Around, approximately (gegen Abend).[9][1]
  6. Compared with.[1]
  7. In exchange for.[9][1]
  8. (medicine) For, as a remedy against.[1]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 307
  5. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 340
  6. ^ a b c Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 4, 7
  7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  8. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 119
  9. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag