sichern

Forms

sichern (third-person singular present sichert, past tense sicherte, past participle gesichert, auxiliary haben)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German sichern, inherited from Old High German sihhurōn (“to justify, clear of a charge, vouch for”), formed from the adjective sihhur, the ancestor of sicher.^[2][3][4] A verb of the same kind is the legal term Old Frisian sikuria, and the Grimms see the verb as modelled on Medieval Latin sēcūrō.^[5]

The adjective is an early loan, recorded from the 9th century, of Vulgar Latin *sicūrus, Latin sēcūrus (“free from care”), from sē- (“without”) and cūra (“care”).^[4][2][6] It was borrowed in the same way into Old Saxon sikor, Old Frisian sikur and Old English sicor;^[4][2] Pfeifer asks whether English took it before the Anglo-Saxons left the continent.^[4][2] Like the Latin word it was first a legal term, “not liable, free of guilt and punishment”.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German sihhurōn is recorded in glosses of the 8th century and in the Tatian, meaning “to excuse, clear, release from a charge, promise”.^[7] The glosses render Latin purgari “to be cleared by oath” with gisihhirôt, from the oath of purgation by which an accused freed himself.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Middle High German sichern meant “to guarantee something to someone, give security, pledge”;^[8][2] Schiller still writes weil ihr mich meines Lebens habt gesichert (“since you have assured me of my life”), and until the 18th century it could mean “to assure, vow”.^[8][2] From Early New High German on it followed the adjective's sense “safe” and came to mean “to protect from danger”, usually with vor.^[8]

Hunters say of game that it sichert when it watches and scents for danger (recorded 1838), and the army took the word over.^[8][9] Newer uses are putting a gun on safety, securing a climber with a rope, securing evidence at a crime scene and, in computing, saving data.^[9] The prefixed versichern acquired the sense “to insure” in the 17th century, first in maritime trade beside the Italian loan assekurieren.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 8th century – Old High German sihhurōn appears in glosses.^[7]
• 9th century – The adjective sihhur is recorded.^[4][2]
• 17th century – versichern takes the sense “to insure”.^[2]
• 1838 – First record of the hunting sense “to watch and scent”.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make safe, protect against a danger: das Fahrrad mit einem Schloss sichern, die Grenzen sichern; of a climber, to secure with a rope; of a gun, to put on safety.^[9][1][10]
2. (computing) To save data: Vergiss nicht, die Datei zu sichern.^[9][10]
3. To guarantee, ensure: Der Vertrag sichert den Mitarbeitern ihre Stellen. Often in the participle: ein gesichertes Einkommen.^[9][1]
4. To secure, obtain for oneself or someone: Wir haben uns gute Plätze gesichert.^[9][10]
5. (police) To record and preserve evidence at a scene: Spuren sichern.^[9][10]
6. (hunting) Of game: to listen and take the scent watchfully.^[9]

Word family

• Sicherung
• absichern
• versichern
• verunsichern
• sicherstellen

Related words

• sicher
• sicherlich
• Sicherheit
• Kur

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
4. ^ a b c d e Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 847
5. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 16, 730
6. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 7, 1204
7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
8. ^ a b c d e Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
10. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org