Etymologically
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nötig

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈnøːtɪç/, /ˈnøːtɪk/[1]

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

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