Etymologically
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stoßen

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈʃtoːsn̩/, /ˈʃtoːsən/[1]

Forms

stoßen (class 7 strong, third-person singular present stößt, past tense stieß, past participle gestoßen, auxiliary haben or sein)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German stōzen, inherited from Old High German stōzan, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *stautan, inherited from Proto-Germanic *stautaną (“to push, bump, jolt”), a reduplicating strong verb.[2][3][1] The same verb is Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌿𐍄𐌰𐌽 (stautan), Old Saxon stōtan, Old Frisian stēta, Middle Low German stōten and Dutch stoten, while Old Norse stauta is weak.[2][3][4]

It goes back to Proto-Indo-European *steu-d- (“to push, strike”), which without the initial /s/ is found in Sanskrit तुदति (tudáti, “strikes, goads”), Old Irish do-tuit (“falls”) and Latin tundō (“to beat, pound”).[2][3] Pfeifer also includes studeō (“to strive, be eager”), which Kluge admits only as a possibility.[3][2] Wiktionary explains the Germanic verb as an intensive formation with the o-grade of *(s)tewd-.[1] Pfeifer and Duden count it among the extended forms of a root *(s)teu- (“to push, strike”), which also underlies Stock, Stück, stottern, stutzen and Steiß, as well as Ancient Greek τύπτω (túptō, “to strike”) (see Typ) and stupeō (“to be stunned”) (see stupid).[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German stōzan is first recorded in glosses of the end of the 8th century, and then in Otfrid and Notker.[5][6] It meant to push or knock over, to drive away, to drive or put somewhere, and, with a reflexive pronoun, to be in turmoil;[6][5] stōzan zū meant “to count among”.[6][5]

Semantic evolution

In Middle High German the verb also meant to press grapes, to border on something and to quarrel.[7] The noun Stoß is as old as the verb.[3] Since the 15th century it has also meant a heap stacked up, as of wood; Stößel “pestle” is Old High German stōzil.[3][4] Stößer named a pestle and, in the 15th and 16th centuries, a sparrowhawk or a hawk, the bird that swoops on its prey, a sense the hunters' verb still has.[4][8]

Among the derivatives, anstößig meant “adjoining” in the 15th century and “offensive” from the 16th, anstoßen has meant “to clink glasses” since the 18th century, and abstoßend “repulsive” appeared at the end of the 18th century, first said of a magnet, like anziehend “attractive”.[3][4] Verstoß “breach” dates from the 17th century and the military Vorstoß “advance” from the 19th.[3] The noun was borrowed into Hungarian as stósz “pile” (1927).[9]

Timeline

  • End of the 8th century – Old High German stōzan appears in glosses.[5]
  • 1150–1170 – Middle High German stōzen is used in Lamprecht's Alexander.[7]
  • 15th century – Stoß comes to mean a stacked heap.[3]
  • 16th century – anstößig takes on the sense “offensive”.[3]
  • 17th century – First record of Verstoß.[3]
  • 18th century – anstoßen “to clink glasses”.[4]
  • End of the 18th century – abstoßend “repulsive” appears.[3][4]
  • 19th century – vorstoßen and Vorstoß become military terms.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (auxiliary haben) To hit with a quick movement, to jab, thrust: Er stieß mich mit dem Ellbogen in die Seite.; to drive something in: einen Pfahl in den Boden stoßen; to push someone or something away or somewhere: jemanden ins Wasser stoßen;[8][1] (athletics) die Kugel stoßen, to put the shot.[8][1]
  2. (auxiliary sein) To bump into something by accident: Sie ist im Dunkeln gegen den Schrank gestoßen.;[8][1] (reflexive, auxiliary haben) to hurt oneself by knocking against something: Ich habe mir das Knie gestoßen.[8][1]
  3. (auxiliary sein) auf jemanden or auf etwas stoßen: to come across, find, meet with: Beim Graben stießen die Arbeiter auf alte Mauern.;[8][1] auf Widerstand stoßen, to meet with resistance.[8][1]
  4. (auxiliary sein) zu jemandem stoßen: to join someone or a group.[8]
  5. (auxiliary sein) Of a road: to lead straight to a place.[8]
  6. (auxiliary haben) an etwas stoßen: to adjoin, to border on.[8][10]
  7. (reflexive) sich an etwas stoßen: to take offence at something.[8][1]
  8. (hunting) Of a bird of prey: to swoop down on an animal.[8]
  9. To pound, crush a granular substance: Nelken im Mörser stoßen.[8][10]
  10. Of a vehicle: to jolt; of wind: to blow in gusts.[8][1]
  11. (dated) To blow a short, strong note: ins Horn stoßen.[8]
  12. (vulgar) Of a man: to have sex with.[8][1]
  13. (Switzerland) To push a bicycle, to push-start a car; on doors: push.[8]

Word family

  • Stoß
  • Stößel
  • Stößer
  • abstoßen
  • abstoßend
  • anstoßen
  • Anstoß
  • anstößig
  • verstoßen
  • Verstoß
  • vorstoßen
  • Vorstoß
  • zerstoßen
  • Stoßgebet
  • Stock
  • Stück
  • stottern
  • stutzen
  • Steiß

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 889
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  6. ^ a b c Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 316
  7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  9. ^ Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
  10. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org