Etymologically
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präsentieren

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Pronunciation

  • /pʁɛzɛnˈtiːʁən/, /pʁeːzɛnˈtiːʁən/[1]

Forms

präsentieren (third-person singular present präsentiert, past tense präsentierte, past participle präsentiert, auxiliary haben)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German prēsentieren, borrowed from Old French presenter (“to offer, put at someone's disposal, introduce”), borrowed in the Middle High German period.[2][3][4][5] The French verb comes from Late Latin praesentō (“to make present, show”), formed from Latin praesēns (“present, at hand”).[2][3][6] Kluge explains the Latin adjective from prae (“before”) and an old participle of sum (“to be”), so that the verb means “to make present, show, offer”.[7] Duden takes the German verb directly from the Late Latin one.[3]

The noun Präsent “gift” came earlier: prēsant was taken from present (“offering, gift”) and is found from about 1200.[2][8] From it Middle High German formed a verb prīsanten “to present with due respect”, used by Gottfried von Strassburg about 1210.[5][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle High German prēsentieren is recorded about 1340, meaning “to set out, present”.[8][9] In the 15th-century Pontus und Sidonia it means to present a gift respectfully: the hero offers Sidonie a crown of gold.[5][4]

Semantic evolution

In Early New High German the verb meant offering a gift, serving food and drink, showing, and in church law proposing someone for an office.[10][5] In commerce it meant presenting a bill of exchange for acceptance or payment, recorded from 1605.[4] The reflexive sense “to show oneself, appear” dates from the first half of the 17th century, at first of an army appearing in the field.[4][2]

From the 17th century das Gewehr präsentieren was to hold the weapon upright as a salute; the command präsentirt das Gewehr! is recorded in 1775.[2][4] The Präsentierteller, a large tray for serving, is recorded in 1793, and the phrase wie auf dem Präsentierteller “in full view of everyone” in 1881.[4][2] The modern sense of presenting something to the public, such as a new product or a programme, follows English present.[11]

Timeline

  • About 1200 – Middle High German prēsant “gift” is recorded.[8]
  • About 1340 – prēsentieren appears.[8]
  • 15th century – Pontus und Sidonia uses it of offering a crown.[5]
  • 1605 – First record of the commercial sense “to present a bill”.[4]
  • 1775 – The military command präsentirt das Gewehr! is recorded.[4]
  • 1793 – Präsentierteller is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (formal) To hand over, offer: den Gästen Kaffee präsentieren.[11][12]
  2. To present a demand, bill or order: eine Rechnung präsentieren.[11][12]
  3. To introduce or show someone, or oneself, in a certain role or manner: Er präsentierte sich als neuer Trainer.[11][1]
  4. To present something to the public: Der Verlag präsentiert seine Neuerscheinungen.[11][1]
  5. (military) To present arms: das Gewehr präsentieren.[1][12]

Word family

  • Präsentation
  • Präsentierteller
  • präsent
  • Präsenz
  • Präsens
  • repräsentieren

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  5. ^ a b c d e Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 13, 2071
  6. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
  7. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 720
  8. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  9. ^ Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 2, 292
  10. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
  11. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  12. ^ a b c Duden. Das Fremdwörterbuch (2007), 9th ed., Duden vol. 5, Mannheim: Dudenverlag