Etymologically
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sichern

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈzɪçɐn/[1]

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

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