Etymologically
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legen

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈleːɡən/, [ˈleː.ŋ̍][1]

Forms

legen (third-person singular present legt, past tense legte, past participle gelegt, auxiliary haben)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German legen, inherited from Old High German leggen, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *laggjan, inherited from Proto-Germanic *lagjaną (“to lay”).[2][3][1] The same verb is Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (lagjan), Old Norse leggja, Old English lecgan, Old Frisian lega and Old Saxon leggian.[2][3][4] It is the causative of liegen, properly “to make lie”.[2][3][5] Outside Germanic the same formation is Old Church Slavonic -ложити (-ložiti, “to lay”), beside лежати (ležati, “to lie”).[2][3] Kroonen reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *logʰ-éie-, and Köbler gives the root as Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie”).[4][6]

The double consonant of the Old High German verb is the West Germanic gemination before /j/.[7] Middle High German also had contracted forms such as ⟨leit⟩ “lays” and ⟨geleit⟩ “laid”, which mixed with the forms of the intransitive verb and were given up by the written language from the 16th century.[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German leggen is recorded from the 8th century, first in the Abrogans and the Benedictine Rule, and then in the Tatian, Otfrid and Notker, meaning “to lay, put, place, set down”.[7][6][9] It already formed phrases such as ei leggen “to lay eggs”, fundament leggen “to lay the foundation” and wuosti leggen “to lay waste”.[7]

Semantic evolution

Particle verbs and prefixed verbs carry most of the later senses.[2] Anlegen already existed in Old High German; in Middle High German it also meant “to plot” and “to invest at interest”;[3][5] Ableger, a layer or shoot of a plant, is from the 18th century.[3][5] Erlegen “to kill game” has been a hunting word since Middle High German.[10] Belegen first meant “to lay on”;[10] Belegschaft, the workforce of a company, comes from its use for manning a mine with miners.[10]

The Grimms' dictionary of 1885 records Bauernlegen, the absorption of peasant farms into large estates.[11] In regional use Kartoffeln legen means “to plant potatoes”, a use Goethe also had.[11][12]

Timeline

  • 8th century – Old High German leggen is recorded.[2][6]
  • 8th century – analeggen “to put on, lay on” is recorded.[3]
  • 16th century – The written language gives up the contracted forms leit, geleit.[8]
  • 18th century – Ableger is used for a plant shoot.[3]
  • 1885 – The Grimms' dictionary records Bauernlegen.[11]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To lay, put into a lying position: den Verletzten auf die Seite legen;[12][1] (sports jargon) to bring down a player.[12][1]
  2. To lean (a ladder) against something.[12][11]
  3. (reflexive) To lie down: Der Hund legte sich vor den Ofen.[12][1]
  4. (reflexive) To settle on something, of snow or fog; to affect an organ, of an illness: Der Husten hat sich auf die Bronchien gelegt.[12]
  5. To put or place somewhere: Geld auf die Seite legen.[12]
  6. To lay (pipes, cables, rails), to install.[12][13]
  7. To arrange in a certain shape: die Wäsche legen “to fold the washing”.[12]
  8. (reflexive) To subside, abate: Ihre Aufregung legte sich bald.[12]
  9. (reflexive) To devote oneself to: sich auf ein Fachgebiet legen.[12]
  10. To lay (eggs): Die Hühner legen gut.[12][11]
  11. (regional) To plant (potatoes, beans) seed by seed.[12][11]
  12. (animal husbandry) To castrate.[1][13]

Word family

  • ablegen
  • Ableger
  • anlegen
  • Anlage
  • auflegen
  • Auflage
  • auslegen
  • belegen
  • Beleg
  • Belegschaft
  • darlegen
  • einlegen
  • erlegen
  • niederlegen
  • überlegen
  • verlegen
  • widerlegen
  • zerlegen

Usage notes

Karten legen is to tell fortunes with cards, and Feuer legen is to commit arson.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 567
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2014), 5th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin / Mannheim / Zürich: Dudenverlag, p. 513
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  7. ^ 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. 5, 1108
  8. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 12, 519
  9. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 195
  10. ^ a b c Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  13. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org