versuchen

Forms

versuchen (third-person singular present versucht, past tense versuchte, past participle versucht, auxiliary haben)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German versuochen (“to try to find out, test”), formed from German ver- + suchen.^[2][3][1] The prefix gives the verb a frequentative force, especially with an object.^[4] The same formation is Old Saxon forsōkian, Middle Dutch versoeken and Dutch verzoeken, and Danish forsøge and Swedish försöka were borrowed from German.^[4][1]

The simple verb suchen goes back to Proto-Germanic *sōkijaną (“to seek”), the same verb as Gothic 𐍃𐍉𐌺𐌾𐌰𐌽 (sōkjan) and English seek.^[5][6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle High German versuochen is recorded from about 1150, in the Speculum ecclesiae, and then in the Nibelungenlied, Walther von der Vogelweide and many other texts.^[8] It meant “to try to learn or know”, “to inquire into, test, put to the proof”, “to try to obtain or do”, “to lead into temptation”, and also “to visit”: Walther speaks of a versuochteʒ swert, a sword that has been tested.^[9] The Grimms' dictionary finds no Old High German verb, only a noun firsuoh “testing” in a gloss, while Adelung quotes firsuachen from Otfrid.^[4][7][10]

Semantic evolution

From the sense “to try to find out” came the idea of testing, with things as the object: one can versuchen food and drink (taste them), a remedy, one's luck or one's strength.^[3] With zu and an infinitive it came to mean “to attempt to do something”.^[3] With a person as object it belongs mainly to the language of the Bible, where God tests Abraham and Satan tempts Christ, and since the devil aims at evil the verb came close to “to seduce”, as in versucht sein “to be tempted”.^[3][11] The senses “to visit” and “to request” were mainly Low German and are now obsolete.^[4][10]

The noun Versuch meant a hostile attack until the 19th century, a scientific experiment from Paracelsus on, and in the 18th century also an essay.^[3][7] Versuchung took on its religious sense in the 17th century, as in the Lord's Prayer: und führe uns nicht in Versuchung.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1150 – Middle High German versuochen appears in the Speculum ecclesiae.^[8]
• c. 1200 – Walther von der Vogelweide speaks of a tested sword.^[9]
• 16th century – Versuch is used for a scientific experiment.^[7][3]
• 17th century – Versuchung takes on its religious meaning.^[3]
• 18th century – Versuch renders “essay”.^[7][3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To try or attempt to do something difficult or uncertain: Sie versuchte, den letzten Bus noch zu erreichen.^[11][1]
2. To find out by trying: Versuch mal, ob das Fenster aufgeht.^[11]
3. To taste, try food or drink: Möchtest du die Suppe versuchen?^[11][1]
4. (reflexive) To try one's hand at something new to one: Er versucht sich als Töpfer.^[11][1]
5. (formal) To test, try out.^[11]
6. (biblical) To put to the test, and to tempt.^[11][1]
7. (now rare) To examine.^[1]

Word family

• Versuch
• Versuchung
• Versucher
• versucht
• unversucht

Related words

• besuchen
• ersuchen
• suchen
• untersuchen

Usage notes

Fixed phrases include sein Glück versuchen “to try one's luck” and nichts unversucht lassen “to leave nothing untried”.^[3][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 839
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
4. ^ a b c d Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 25, 1830
5. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 897
6. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
9. ^ a b Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 3, 259
10. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
11. ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag