Etymologically
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umfassen

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Pronunciation

  • /ʔʊmˈfasn̩/, /ʔʊmˈfasən/[1]

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
  • 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