Etymologically
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immerhin

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Pronunciation

  • [ˈɪmɐˈhɪn][1]

Forms

immerhin[1]

Etymology

It is from German immer + hin: the adverb meaning “always” joined with the adverb of direction meaning “onward, away”.[2][1] In the 16th century the parts were still written separately, as in Luther's Bible, and only later were they run together.[2] The first part is Middle High German iemer, Old High German iomēr, run together from io (“ever”) (modern je) and mēr (“more”) (modern mehr).[3][4]

The concessive meaning grew out of the temporal one.[1][2] The simple adverb was already used in the same way, to grant that at least so much could be admitted.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

At first the phrase was purely temporal, “on and on, further”: Luther's translation of Genesis 8:3 says that the waters receded from the earth jmer hin, and Revelation 22:11 has wer böse ist, der sei jmer hin böse “he that is unjust, let him be unjust still”.[2] Early New High German also used immerhin to mean “only, merely”.[6]

Semantic evolution

In the 17th century it could be an encouraging cry, “go on! forward!”, as in Logau.[2] From there it came to express permission, letting an action go ahead: Gotter writes schlaf immerhin die erste zeit des lebens! “sleep on, then, the first part of your life!”[2]

In more recent German it is often used to introduce or to weaken an objection, as in Wieland: nenne die tugend immerhin schwärmerei “call virtue fanaticism if you will”.[2] Today its main use is to point to something that should be acknowledged in spite of everything, “at least, after all”.[7][1]

Timeline

  • 16th century – imer hin, written separately, in Luther and other writers.[2]
  • 17th century – Used as an encouraging cry by Logau.[2]
  • 18th century – Concessive use (“go ahead and…”) in Wieland and Gotter.[2]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. At least, in any case (acknowledging something positive): Sie hat immerhin den zweiten Platz erreicht.[7][1]
  2. All the same, nevertheless, even so: Er war dagegen, hat aber immerhin unterschrieben.[7][1]
  3. After all (pointing to a circumstance that must be considered): Sie ist immerhin deine Schwester.[7][1]
  4. (formal) With mögen: even if, however much: Mag es immerhin regnen, wir gehen trotzdem.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 10, 2074
  3. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 439
  4. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 389
  5. ^ Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  6. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
  7. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag