umfassen

Forms

umfassen (third-person singular present umfasst, past tense umfasste, past participle umfasst, auxiliary haben)^[1] In the separable sense “to grasp differently” the forms are fasst um, fasste um, umgefasst.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from German um- + fassen, the verb with the prefix meaning “around”.^[1][3][4] Middle High German already had umbevazzen (“to embrace”), and Middle Low German ummevaten is found in 1473.^[5][6][7] The base fassen is Middle High German vazzen, Old High German faʒʒōn (“to put into a vessel, load, clothe”), probably formed from the noun Old High German faʒʒa (“bundle, load”) and so related to Fass.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pfeifer and Paul date umfassen to the 15th century, in the sense “to clasp with the arms”, then also “to enclose”.^[4][8] Frisius's dictionary of 1556 explains Latin amplecti with umbfahen, umbfassen, halsen, and the word was then close to umarmen.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The concrete sense stayed with hands and arms: jemandes Knie umfassen; more rarely the sea “embraces” the lands, as in Schiller's alle Länder, die das Meer umfaßt.^[8] The abstract sense “to comprise, include” follows fassen “to hold, contain” and matches the noun Umfang: a science umfasst a wide field.^[8] At the end of the 18th century the present participle umfassend became an adjective “comprehensive”, as in Schiller's umfassender Sonnenblick des Genies.^[8][4]

The separable verb, stressed on the prefix, meant to set a jewel anew;^[8][2] Goethe in his Cellini wrote that the diamonds should be well umzufassen.^[8][2] The inseparable verb is also found in separated forms from early times, such as (sie) faßten um in Clara Viebig (1904).^[7]

Timeline

• 15th century – Umfassen “to clasp, enclose” is recorded.^[4][8]
• 1473 – Middle Low German ummevaten “to embrace”.^[7]
• 1556 – Frisius explains Latin amplecti with umbfassen.^[7]
• Late 18th century – Umfassend becomes an adjective.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (inseparable) To clasp or put one's arms or hands round someone or something: Sie umfasste seine Hand.^[9][3]
2. (inseparable) To surround, enclose;^[9][3] (military) to encircle enemy forces.^[9][3]
3. (inseparable) To comprise, consist of, include: Der Bericht umfasst vierzig Seiten.^[9][1][3]
4. (separable) To grasp differently; to give a gem a new setting.^[10][1]
5. (separable, regional, especially North German) To put one's arm round someone.^[10]

Word family

• umfassend
• Umfassung

Related words

• fassen
• Fass
• Umfang
• umarmen

Usage notes

The inseparable verb (umfássen, umfasst) is the usual one; the separable one (úmfassen, umgefasst) is rare, and Adelung already set the two apart by stress and forms.^[2][10][1] In the regional sense one hears umgefasst gehen, to walk with arms round each other.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
3. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
4. ^ a b c d e Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
6. ^ Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 3, 35
7. ^ 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. 23, 872
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b c d Duden. Deutsches Universalwörterbuch (2007), 6th ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
10. ^ a b c d Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag