gewiss

Forms

gewiss (strong nominative masculine singular gewisser, comparative gewisser, superlative am gewissesten)^[1] The older spelling is gewiß.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German gewis, inherited from Old High German giwis, inherited from Proto-Germanic *gawissaz (“known, certain”).^[2][1][3] The same word is Gothic 𐌿𐌽𐍅𐌹𐍃𐍃 (unwiss, “uncertain”), Old Norse víss, Old English gewis and Old Frisian wiss, and today Dutch gewis and Swedish viss.^[2][1] It is an old to-participle of the verb now wissen, so it properly meant “known”.^[2][4] The participle goes back to Proto-Indo-European *u̯ei̯d- (“to see”), through a form Proto-Indo-European *u̯id-to- (“seen”) in which the meeting dentals gave -ss-; Sanskrit वित्त (vittá, “known”) corresponds exactly.^[3][4][5] The verb has since formed a new participle, gewusst.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German giwis is recorded from the end of the 8th century in glosses, and then in the Benedictine Rule, the Murbach Hymns, Otfrid and Notker, meaning “certain, sure, fixed, true, reliable”.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

From “what is known” the word came to mean “what is surely known”, and then “certain, sure”.^[4] The Grimms' dictionary points out that while weise, from the same root, took an active sense (“knowing”), gewiss kept a passive one (“known”).^[5] The adverb (gewiss! “certainly”) is attested in Middle High German, about 1185 in Hartmann's Erec.^[7] In the modern language the adjective also means “certain, some”, of something not named more precisely (ein gewisser Herr Krause).^[8]

Timeline

• Late 8th century – Old High German giwis appears in glosses.^[3][9]
• 1077–1081 – Middle High German gewis is used in the Annolied.^[7]
• c. 1185 – The adverb gewis is used in Hartmann's Erec.^[7]
• 17th century – vergewissern “to make sure” is formed.^[4][10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. certain, not named more precisely though known to the speaker: eine gewisse Frau Lange.^[8]
2. Some, of a moderate degree: eine gewisse Ähnlichkeit.^[8]
3. Certain, sure, beyond doubt: Der Sieg ist ihr gewiss.^[8][1]

Adverb

1. certainly, surely, indeed: Das hat er gewiss gewusst.^[8][1]

Word family

• Gewissheit
• gewisslich
• vergewissern
• ungewiss

Related words

• wissen
• weise
• Gewissen

Usage notes

Aber gewiss doch! is an emphatic “of course!”.^[8] Etwas für gewiss halten is to take something as certain.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 357
3. ^ a b c d Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 4, 451
4. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 325
5. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 6, 6140
6. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 394
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
8. ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
10. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de