Etymologically
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herrschen

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈhɛʁʃən/, [ˈhɛɐ̯ʃn̩], [ˈhɛɐ̯ʃən][1]

Forms

herrschen (third-person singular present herrscht, past tense herrschte, past participle geherrscht, auxiliary haben)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German hērschen, inherited from Old High German hērisōn, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *hairisōn.[2][3][1] The verb is formed to the adjective hehr, Old High German hēr, from Proto-Germanic *hairaz, whose oldest sense was “grey, grey-haired” and which in West Germanic came to mean “venerable”.[2][4] Pfeifer derives it from the comparative hēriro (“older, more venerable”), so that it first meant “to be older, more worthy”;[3] Duden 7 allows either the comparative or a lost noun meaning “age, venerability”.[5] In meaning it soon leaned on Herr, so that it was felt as “to be a lord”, as were Herrschaft and herrlich;[2][5] Notker even spells it hērresōn beside the usual form.[6]

The related forms are Middle Low German hērschen and Dutch heersen, which Pfeifer suspects were taken over from High German.[3] The suffix /s/ became /ʃ/ in Middle High German, a change the Grimms' dictionary finds from the 14th century, while forms with plain ⟨s⟩ such as hersen lasted into the later 16th century.[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Kluge dates the verb to the 10th century, and Pfeifer to about 900.[2][3] Köbler finds hērisōn first in 10th-century glosses and then in Notker, meaning “to rule, to have power, to be lord”, and Schützeichel lists it in Notker and the glosses.[7][8] In Middle High German hērschen meant “to be lord, to hold sway, to master”, first recorded in a psalter from before 1190.[9]

Semantic evolution

The Grimms' dictionary notes that a sharp distinction from regieren grew up only late: herrschen stresses the power to impose one's will as master, regieren a guidance by reason, as in Kant's line die Frau soll herrschen und der Mann regieren “the woman shall rule and the man govern”.[6] Beside rule over land and people the verb came to mean that a condition is widespread and keenly felt, as of a mood, silence or weather.[10][1]

Derivatives followed over the centuries: Herrscher “ruler” goes back to Old High German hērisāri (11th century), beherrschen and vorherrschen are recorded from the 15th century, and anherrschen “to address in a domineering tone” from the mid-19th century.[3] Duden 7 dates beherrschen to the 18th century.[5] Swedish took the verb as härska about 1620, and Czech has heršovati “to behave like a lord”.[11]

Timeline

  • c. 900 – Old High German hērisōn is first recorded.[3]
  • 10th century – The verb appears in glosses and in Notker.[2][7]
  • 11th century – hērisāri “ruler” is recorded.[3]
  • 14th century – Forms with ⟨sch⟩ appear.[6]
  • 15th century – beherrschen and vorherrschen are first recorded.[3]
  • c. 1620 – Swedish borrows the verb as härska.[11]
  • Mid-19th century – anherrschen is first recorded.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To rule, to reign; to hold power over a country and its people: In diesem Land herrscht seit Jahrzehnten dieselbe Familie.[10][1]
  2. Of a condition or mood: to prevail, to be present everywhere and clearly felt: Im Saal herrschte gespannte Stille.[10][1]
  3. (rare) To say something in a domineering tone; to snap at someone (anherrschen).[10]

Word family

  • Herrscher
  • Herrscherin
  • beherrschen
  • Beherrschung
  • vorherrschen
  • anherrschen
  • herrschend
  • Herr
  • hehr
  • Herrschaft
  • herrlich

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 413
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  4. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 403
  5. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2014), 5th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin / Mannheim / Zürich: Dudenverlag, p. 382
  6. ^ 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. 10, 1155
  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. 150
  9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  10. ^ a b c d Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  11. ^ a b Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de