schützen

Forms

schützen (third-person singular present schützt, past tense schützte, past participle geschützt, auxiliary haben)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German schützen (“to dam up, hold back water”), inherited from Proto-West Germanic *skuttjan (“to shut, close off”).^[2][3][1] Old High German has no record of it, and in Middle High German it is rare and found only in Central German sources.^[4] The same verb is Middle Low German schütten (“to hinder, dam up water, shut in”), Middle Dutch scutten (“to enclose, fence in”), Old Frisian sketta (“to lock”) and Old English scyttan (“to bolt”), the source of English shut.^[3][2]

Its further origin is disputed.^[2][3] Pfeifer, Paul and the Grimms' dictionary take it as an intensive formation to schießen, with the starting sense “to shoot a bolt forward, bar”.^[3][5][4] Duden finds that link unsatisfying in meaning; it reports an attempt to connect the verb with schließen, with a simplified initial cluster, and the possibility that it belongs with schütten through schüten (“to heap up earth, embank, protect”).^[6] Kluge prefers the comparison with “to close” for the senses of barring water, though it is not free of formal problems, and does not rule out formations of “to pour”; how much of the other senses belongs here is still unclear.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle High German schützen, in Central German also schutzen, meant “to dam up, embank, hold back water”, as with the board of a sluice, and also “to grant protection, shield, defend”, for example in Heinrich von Freiberg's Tristan.^[7][4] Middle Low German schutten appears beside “shield and defend” in a text of 1395.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The Grimms' dictionary explains the sense “to protect” from barring a house with bolts and beams, while the Upper German verb beschütten, which had the same meaning, started from the wall and earthworks around a town; from the beginning of New High German, Central German schützen spread south and replaced it.^[4] Paul likewise has the modern sense spread from Central German.^[5] Adelung in 1793 still records both meanings, holding back water with a dam and keeping harm away from someone.^[8]

The formula schützen und schirmen “to protect and shelter” is old;^[4][5][3] Paul and Pfeifer date Schutz und Schirm to the 16th century.^[4][5][3] Newer uses are legal protection, as of an invention by a patent, and the protection of plant and animal species from extinction.^[5][9] From the noun Schutz came Schutzmann, “defender” in the 17th century and “policeman” in the 19th.^[3][5]

Timeline

• 14th century – First record of late Middle High German schützen “to dam up”.^[2]
• 1395 – Middle Low German schutten “to protect” in a legal formula.^[4]
• 16th century – The formula Schutz und Schirm is in use.^[3][5]
• 17th century – vorschützen “to plead as an excuse” and Schützling “protégé” appear.^[3][6]
• 1793 – Adelung still gives “to hold back water” as the first sense.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To protect, shield or guard someone or something from danger or harm (vor, gegen); also reflexive, to protect oneself: Die Hecke schützt das Haus vor dem Wind.^[9][1]
2. To place under legal protection, so that others may not use it: Die Firma ließ ihren Markennamen schützen.^[9][5]
3. To place a plant, an animal or a landscape under Naturschutz: In dem Tal sind alle Orchideen geschützt.^[9]

Word family

• Schutz
• Schützling
• beschützen
• vorschützen
• schützenswert
• ungeschützt

Related words

• schießen
• schütten
• Schütz
• English shut

Usage notes

Etwas vorschützen “to use something as a pretext” (17th century) is understood by Duden as originally “to put up a protective wall”.^[6][3]

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. 830
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 c d e f g h Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 15, 2128
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
6. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 762
7. ^ Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 2, 836
8. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf, p. 3, 1697
9. ^ a b c d Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag