verurteilen
Pronunciation
- /fərˈu(ː)rˌtaɪ̯lən/, /fɛr-/, [fɐˈʔuːɐ̯ˌtaɪ̯.lən][1]
Forms
verurteilen (third-person singular present verurteilt, past tense verurteilte, past participle verurteilt, auxiliary haben)[1]
Etymology
It is inherited from Middle High German verurteilen (“to decide by judgement, pronounce as a verdict”),[2][3] formed with the prefix ver- from urteilen, the verb of Urteil “judgement, verdict”.[1][4][5]
The noun continues Old High German urteili, recorded from the 8th century, and Old Saxon urdēli.[6][7] Kluge, Pfeifer and Duden explain it as a noun formed to the prefixed verb erteilen “to allot”, with the prefix in its stressed form; it meant first “what is allotted” and was narrowed early to the verdict a judge gives.[6][7][5] Kluge traces it to the Old High German phrase “to allot judgements”, in which the verb alone could already mean “to pass sentence”.[6] The same noun is Dutch oordeel and Old English ordāl, the source of English ordeal, originally a judgement of God.[7]
Earliest recorded meaning
Middle High German verurteilen meant “to decide something by a court's judgement” and “to announce as a verdict”;[2] Lexer quotes dô daʒ verurteilet wart (“when that was decided by judgement”) from Rudolf von Ems' Der gute Gerhard, and the phrase einen zuo dem tôde verurteilen “to sentence someone to death”.[2] Köbler lists the verb in Der gute Gerhard (1215–1225), in Tauler and in the Buch der Natur.[3]
Semantic evolution
The verb kept its legal sense: a court sentences a person zu a punishment.[8][5] From this came a figurative use for something doomed by circumstances, as in zum Scheitern verurteilt “doomed to fail” and zum Schweigen verurteilt “condemned to silence”.[8]
Like the noun Urteil, whose general sense “opinion” grew up in the mystical literature of the Middle Ages, the verb also came to mean judging outside a court: today it is often to condemn an act or a person severely, without any court involved.[7][8][5] Beside it stand aburteilen “to sentence finally” (early 17th century) and beurteilen “to judge, assess” (early 16th century).[7]
Timeline
- 1215–1225 – Middle High German verurteilen is recorded in Rudolf von Ems' Der gute Gerhard.[3][2]
- before 1350 – Tauler uses the verb and its noun verurteilen “condemning”.[3]
- early 16th century – The related beurteilen “to assess” appears.[7]
- early 17th century – aburteilen takes the sense “to sentence finally”.[7]
Meanings
Verb
- (law) To sentence or convict: to impose a penalty on someone by a court's decision: Das Landgericht verurteilte die Betrügerin zu zwei Jahren Haft.[8][1]
- (figurative) In zu etwas verurteilt sein: to be doomed to something by circumstances: zum Scheitern verurteilt “doomed to fail”.[8]
- To condemn strongly, to reject completely: Alle Parteien verurteilten den Überfall auf das Flüchtlingsheim.[8][1][4]
Word family
- Verurteilung
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 3, 282
- ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
- ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 891
- ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 945
- ^ a b c d e f g 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 Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag