Etymologically
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gleich

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Pronunciation

  • /ɡlaɪ̯ç/[1]

Forms

gleich (strong nominative masculine singular gleicher, not comparable)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German gelīch, inherited from Old High German gilīh, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *galīk, inherited from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz, a compound of the prefix *ga- (“together”) (ge-) and *līką (“body, shape”), the word behind Leiche, so that it first meant “having the same body or shape”.[2][3][4][5] The Grimms' dictionary points to Ephesians 3:6 in the Gothic Bible, where the plural renders Greek “of the same body”.[5] The same word is Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃 (galeiks), Old Norse glíkr, Old English gelīc, Old Saxon gilīk and Old Frisian līk, and today Dutch gelijk, English like and Swedish lik.[2][3]

Kluge notes that the analysis is less simple than it looks, because similar formations on pronominal stems point to a suffix in /l/ rather than to the noun for “shape”.[2] Pfeifer and the Grimms' dictionary connect Lithuanian lýgus (“equal, alike”) and its Baltic relatives and set up a root meaning “shape, alike”;[3][5] Kluge prefers to keep the Baltic group apart, deriving it from a sense “level, smooth”.[2]

The adverbial sense “at once” developed in German from the use of the word for correspondence in place and time.[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German gilīh is first recorded in glosses of 765, and the adverb gilīhho before the end of the 8th century.[7] It occurs in Isidor, the Muspilli, the Ludwigslied, Otfrid and Notker, meaning “like, equal, equivalent, corresponding”; with a genitive plural it could also mean “each, every”.[8][7]

Semantic evolution

Middle High German gelīch also meant “straight, level” and “fair, reasonable”.[9] Luther still writes was recht und gleich ist “what is just and fair” (Colossians 4:1), and Adelung records gleich for “straight” in everyday speech.[10][11] The adverb “at once, immediately” is a German development, reinforced in sogleich.[4]

Several derivatives renamed concepts of Latin learning: Tagundnachtgleiche (17th century) translates aequinoctium, and Gleichung replaced Vergleichung for the mathematical “equation” (Latin aequatio) at the end of the 17th century.[3] Gleichgewicht “balance” is dated to the 16th century by Pfeifer and to the 17th by the Duden, which calls it a loan translation of Latin aequilibrium.[3][12] The verb gleichen “to resemble” became strong in the 16th and 17th centuries, probably on the model of bleichen and schleichen, and the strong forms prevailed in the 18th;[3][12] begleichen “to settle (a bill)” was coined at the end of the 19th century to replace saldieren.[3][12]

English borrowed Gleichschaltung in 1933, and Slovene took glih “equal, just”.[13]

Timeline

  • 765 – Old High German gilīh appears in glosses.[7]
  • Late 8th century – The adverb gilīhho is recorded.[7]
  • 16th century – Gleichgewicht is recorded, according to Pfeifer.[3]
  • 16th–17th centuries – The verb gleichen takes strong forms.[3]
  • 17th century – Tagundnachtgleiche translates Latin aequinoctium.[3]
  • End of the 17th century – Gleichung becomes the mathematical term.[3]
  • Late 19th century – begleichen replaces saldieren in commercial language.[3]
  • 1933 – Gleichschaltung is borrowed into English.[13]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Identical in every respect, the same: mit gleicher Post.[6][1]
  2. Alike in certain features, similar: Die Schwestern haben die gleiche Stimme.[6][1]
  3. (mathematics) equal: drei plus vier gleich sieben.[6][1]
  4. All the same, no matter: gleich, wer gewinnt.[6]

Adverb

  1. At once, in a moment, immediately: Ich bin gleich fertig.[6][1]
  2. Right, directly next to: gleich neben der Kirche.[6][1]
  3. (usually with a number) Surprisingly, at one go: Er kaufte gleich drei Hemden.[6][1]

Particle

  1. (unstressed, in questions) Again, trying to recall something: Wie hieß ihr Mann gleich?[6]
  2. (stressed) Expresses resignation or annoyance: Dann können wir es gleich lassen.[6]

Preposition

  1. (elevated, with the dative) like: gleich einem Pfeil.[6]

Word family

  • gleichen
  • Gleichheit
  • gleichsam
  • Gleichung
  • Gleichnis
  • Gleichgewicht
  • gleichgültig
  • gleichwohl
  • gleichzeitig
  • gleichfalls
  • gleichermaßen
  • obgleich
  • sogleich
  • zugleich
  • ungleich
  • vergleichen
  • Vergleich
  • begleichen
  • angleichen
  • Ausgleich
  • Tagundnachtgleiche
  • Leiche
  • -lich
  • English like

Usage notes

A regional noun das Gleich “joint”, beside Geleich, was used in Upper German, with Gleiche for gout; the Grimms' dictionary also records a rare adjective gleich “supple”.[11][14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 362
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  5. ^ 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. 7, 7936
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  8. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 200
  9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  10. ^ Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  11. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
  12. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2014), 5th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin / Mannheim / Zürich: Dudenverlag
  13. ^ a b Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
  14. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 7, 8014