längst

Forms

längst^[1]

Etymology

It is an adverb formed from lang.^[2][3][1] Kluge, Pfeifer and the Duden dictionary take it to be the same word as längs, from the adverbial genitive Middle High German langes, lenges (“lengthwise; long ago”), with a /t/ added after /s/, as often happened in German.^[2][3][4] The Grimms' dictionary disagrees: it holds that the word, though it means the same as the old genitive, is a superlative, and Adelung already called it the third degree of lange.^[5][6]

The adjective is lanc, Old High German lang, from Proto-Germanic *langaz (“long”), also found in Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌲𐍃 (laggs), Old Norse langr and Old English lang, whence English long.^[7][3] It is close to Latin longus (“long”).^[7] A different stem with the same meaning appears in Sanskrit दीर्घ (dīrghá), Ancient Greek δολιχός (dolikhós) and Lithuanian ìlgas, and a common source would need a form Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰ-;^[7][3] Kluge calls the connection disputed, while Pfeifer derives both from a root Proto-Indo-European *del- (“long”).^[7][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Kluge dates the adverb to the 15th century, in Early New High German forms such as lenges and lengest; the unumlauted langest and langst also occur.^[2][3][5] Luther's Bible has lengest in Mark 15:44, where Pilate asks whether Jesus has long been dead, and Maaler's dictionary renders langest with Latin pridem, jamdudum, “long ago, long since”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The new form took over the sense “long ago” from längs, which kept “lengthwise, along”.^[3][4] Unlängst “recently” got the same added t, from Early New High German unlang(e)s (15th century).^[3] Luther's vor lengest “long ago” later fused into vorlängst.^[5] Besides “long since”, modern German uses längst before a negation to mean “by far”: längst nicht is “not nearly”.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 8th century – Old High German lang “long” is recorded.^[7]
• 14th century – längs is used as a preposition.^[2][3]
• 15th century – längst appears, with the added t.^[2]
• 15th century – unlangs, later unlängst, is recorded.^[3]
• 1793 – Adelung describes längst as the superlative of lange.^[6]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Long ago, for a long time already: Das habe ich längst erledigt.^[8][1][9]
2. (followed by nicht) By far, not nearly: Das reicht längst nicht.^[8][9]

Related words

• lang
• lange
• längs
• unlängst
• Länge

References

1. ^ a b c d 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. 559
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. ^ a b Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
5. ^ 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. 12, 182
6. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
7. ^ a b c d e Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 558
8. ^ a b c Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
9. ^ a b c Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org