trotz
Pronunciation
- /trɔts/, [ˈtʰʁ̞̊ɔt͡sʰ], [ˈtrots][1]
Forms
trotz (preposition with the genitive, less often the dative)[2]
Etymology
It is the noun Trotz (“defiance”), used as a preposition since the 16th and 17th centuries.[3][4][5][6] It grew out of the noun with a following dative in a parenthetic formula, as in Weckherlin's “trutz meinem feind”, and out of phrases such as “Trotz sei …” and “zu(m) Trotz”.[4][5][2] The Grimms' dictionary derives it from the interjection “trotz!”, a cry of challenge from “Trotz sei geboten”, which was frequent until the 17th century.[7][8]
The noun is Middle High German traz, also tratz, in central German trotz and in Upper German truz, and Middle Low German trot in the phrase “to offer defiance”.[3][4] Its origin is unclear.[3][4][5] Kluge tentatively connects it with Lithuanian nir̃sti (“to be furious”), from *nrot-.[3] Pfeifer suspects a sound-imitative origin because the vowels vary, and reports that de Vries links it by metathesis with Middle Dutch tarten (“to provoke, defy”), and Pokorny with Old English teart (“sharp, bitter”) and the root Proto-Indo-European *der- (“to flay, split”).[4]
Earliest recorded meaning
The first examples stand on the border between noun and preposition: trutz irer macht “in defiance of their power” (1548).[7] In trotz neidhart, miszgunst, krieg und streit “despite envy, ill will, war and strife” (1597) the use is already more prepositional, but the preposition remained rare in the 17th century.[7]
Semantic evolution
At first the preposition kept the idea of a contest, “in defiance of”, then it weakened to “regardless of, despite”.[9] It took the dative, as its origin requires, and the genitive from the middle of the 18th century, as in Lessing's Trotz der grauen Haare.[4][9][5] The old dative survives in trotzdem, formed in the 19th century from trotz dem, dass …, and in the fixed phrases trotz allem and trotz alledem.[4][5][9]
Timeline
- 1548 – trutz irer macht, an early prepositional use.[7]
- 1597 – trotz neidhart, miszgunst, krieg und streit.[7]
- Mid-18th century – The genitive appears beside the dative.[4][9]
- 19th century – trotzdem becomes an adverb and conjunction.[4][5]
Meanings
Preposition
- Despite, in spite of: trotz des Sturms fuhren sie los;[2][1] trotz allem “in spite of everything”.[2][1]
- (dated) trotz einem: as well as anyone, better than anyone.[2]
Related words
- Trotz
- trotzen
- trotzdem
- trotzig
Usage notes
Standard German now prefers the genitive (trotz des Regens), but the dative is still used, especially when the genitive is not visible (trotz Beweisen) and in trotz allem.[2][5] The dated trotz einem comes from an older jemandem zu Trotz in the sense of “matching someone”, as in Kleist's Der zerbrochne Krug.[2]
References
- ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
- ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 932
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
- ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
- ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 22, 1087
- ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 22, 1085
- ^ a b c d Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer