stattfinden

Forms

stattfinden (class 3 strong, third-person singular present findet statt, past tense fand statt, past participle stattgefunden, past subjunctive fände statt, auxiliary haben)^[1]

Etymology

It is from German Statt + finden, from the phrase stat vinden, Old High German stat findan (“to find a place”); it has been written as one word only since the 19th century.^[2][3][4] Pfeifer sees in it the influence of stata (“suitable place, favourable time”), so that it literally meant “to find a good place, a good opportunity”.^[2] The noun for “place” is the same as Stadt, and both go back to Proto-Germanic *stadiz, found also in Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌸𐍃 (staþs, “place”) and English stead, from the root of stehen.^[5][6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German stat findan “to find a place” is recorded in the 9th century.^[4][2][8] Luther still uses the phrase in its literal sense: ein gut wort find eine gute stadt “a good word finds a good place”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Until the 18th century Statt finden could also mean “to be present, to exist”, as in Lessing's finden daselbst auch Wein und Mädchen statt.^[3] In the 18th century it also meant “to be fitting, to be granted”: Schiller writes deine Bitte hat Statt gefunden “your request has been granted”.^[3] The present meaning “to take place, happen” then prevailed.^[3][2]

The parallel stattgeben “to grant”, Middle High German stat geben, has likewise been written as one word since the 19th century.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 9th century – Old High German stat findan.^[4][2]
• 18th century – Lessing uses it for “to exist”, Schiller for “to be granted”.^[3]
• 19th century – Written as one word.^[2][3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (of a planned event) To take place, be held: Das Konzert findet morgen im Stadtpark statt.^[9][1]
2. To happen, occur: Ein Austausch der Daten hat nicht stattgefunden.^[9][8]

Related words

• Statt
• anstatt
• stattgeben
• Stätte
• Stadt
• finden

Usage notes

The attributive use of the past participle, die stattgefundene Versammlung, is regarded by the Duden grammar as incorrect, because the verb takes haben.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 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
4. ^ a b c Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 8, 1004
5. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 878
6. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 814
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
8. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
9. ^ a b Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag