verantwortlich

Forms

verantwortlich (strong nominative masculine singular verantwortlicher, comparative verantwortlicher, superlative am verantwortlichsten)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from German verantworten + -lich in the 17th century.^[2][3][4] The verb is Middle High German verantwürten, first meaning “to answer” and especially “to defend oneself as the accused in court”, formed with ver- from antwürten (“to answer”), the verb of Antwort.^[5][2][6] The noun is a collective formed with an old prefix meaning “against” from Wort, so it was originally a “counter-word”; compare Old High German antwurti and Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌳𐌹 (andawaurdi).^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

At first the adjective was passive, meaning “that can be justified or defended”; the Grimms think this sense is older than the active one, and Stieler gives it in 1691 as Latin responsabilis and defensibilis.^[2][8] Adelung around 1800 still knows only this meaning and notes that the word is more common in the negative unverantwortlich.^[9] The passive sense lives on in unverantwortlich “irresponsible, indefensible”, recorded from the middle of the 17th century.^[2]

The active sense “bearing responsibility, having to answer for something” spread in the 18th century;^[2][8] Wieland writes of people who cannot be verantwortlich gemacht for the consequences of a revolt, and Heine of the editor who is verantwortlich for every article.^[2][8] The derived noun Verantwortlichkeit is recorded by Adelung in the 18th century.^[4]

Timeline

• 14th century – The verb verantworten is recorded, first in legal use.^[5]
• 2nd half of the 15th century – The noun Verantwortung appears.^[2]
• 17th century – verantwortlich is formed, in the passive sense “justifiable”.^[2][4]
• Mid-17th century – First record of unverantwortlich.^[2]
• 18th century – The active sense “bearing responsibility” becomes established.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. responsible for something or someone, in charge of it: die verantwortliche Ärztin.^[10][1]
2. answerable or accountable to someone: Der Minister ist dem Parlament verantwortlich.^[10][1]
3. To blame for something, being its cause;^[10] jemanden für etwas verantwortlich machen is to hold someone responsible.^[10]
4. Involving responsibility: eine verantwortliche Aufgabe.^[10]

Word family

• unverantwortlich
• Verantwortlichkeit
• eigenverantwortlich
• mitverantwortlich
• Verantwortlicher

Related words

• verantworten
• Verantwortung
• Antwort
• antworten

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
3. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
4. ^ a b c Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
5. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 950
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
7. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 39
8. ^ a b c Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 25, 81
9. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
10. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag