nötig

Forms

nötig (strong nominative masculine singular nötiger, comparative nötiger, superlative am nötigsten)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German nœtic, inherited from Old High German nōtag (“forced, urgent, needy”), an adjective formed from the noun Not “need, compulsion” with the suffix -ig.^[1][2][3][4] The same formation is Low German nödig and Swedish nödig, and English needy is parallel.^[1]

The noun (Old High German nōt) continues Proto-Germanic *naudiz (“need, compulsion”), also seen in Gothic 𐌽𐌰𐌿𐌸𐍃 (nauþs), Old Norse nauð and Old English nīed.^[3][2] Kluge takes it as an abstract noun with a dental suffix and compares Old Prussian nautin (“need”) and Baltic and Slavic words for torment and force;^[3][2][5] Duden 7 considers all connections beyond the Balto-Slavic group uncertain.^[3][2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German nōtag is first recorded at the beginning of the 9th century in an Old Bavarian confession, and later in Otfrid and Notker.^[6][7] It meant “forced, compelled” and “in need”, and the adverb meant “with compelling reason”.^[7][6]

Semantic evolution

In Middle High German nœtic still described above all a person in need: “oppressed, poor, needy”, as in Hartmann and Wolfram, besides “urgent, necessary”.^[8][9] Early New High German used it for the poor and destitute, and also for what is urgently required.^[10] The sense of poverty has since faded, and the modern word means “necessary”.^[4][1] From the adjective comes the verb nötigen, first “to force” and now also “to urge someone”.^[2][5]

Timeline

• Early 9th century – Old High German nōtag in an Old Bavarian confession.^[6]
• c. 1000 – Notker uses nōtag; the verb nōtigōn “to compel” appears.^[2][7]
• c. 1185 – Middle High German nœtic “needy” in Hartmann's Erec.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. necessary, needed for a purpose: die nötigen Unterlagen.^[4][1]
2. etwas nötig haben: to need something;^[4] (colloquial) es nötig haben, to be in urgent need of something.^[4]

Adverb

1. (colloquial) urgently: Er braucht nötig Urlaub.^[4][1]

Word family

• nötigen
• Nötigung
• unnötig
• benötigen

Related words

• Not
• notwendig
• Notdurft
• English need

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
3. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 659
4. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
5. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
7. ^ a b c Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 240
8. ^ Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 2, 107
9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
10. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de