verwenden

Forms

verwenden (weak or irregular weak, third-person singular present verwendet, past tense verwendete or verwandte, past participle verwendet or verwandt, auxiliary haben)^[1] In the senses “to use, spend, employ” the past is verwandte or verwendete and the participle verwandt or verwendet; reflexive sich verwenden “to intercede” prefers verwandte, verwandt.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German verwenden (“to turn away, turn round”), inherited from Old High German firwenten (“to avert, hold back”), a prefixed form of wenten (“to turn”), the ancestor of wenden.^[1][3][2][4] The same formation is Middle Low German vörwenden.^[1]

The simple verb goes back to Proto-Germanic *wandijaną (“to turn”), also in Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (wandjan), Old Norse venda and Old English wendan, the source of English wend.^[4][5] It is the causative of winden “to wind”, so properly “to make wind, make turn”.^[4][5] Köbler gives the root as Proto-Indo-European *wendʰ- (“to turn, wind”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German firwenten is found only in the glosses, meaning “to turn away, keep back”.^[6][3][7] Middle High German verwenden meant to turn away or round, to undo, to change and to lead astray.^[8][2]

Semantic evolution

The old sense “to turn (away)” was still used by Klopstock and Lessing for turning one's face away; today it lives on only in elevated negative phrases such as kein Auge von jemandem verwenden.^[9] The sense “to change, transform” belongs to Middle High German and Early New High German, though Goethe still used it.^[9]

The modern meaning grew out of “to turn something in a particular direction”, recorded by Josua Maaler in 1561: one turned money, time or effort to a purpose, which led to “to use, employ”.^[9] The reflexive sich für jemanden verwenden “to intercede for someone” is the same idea applied to one's influence.^[9][2] The participle took its own course: Early New High German verwant (15th century), from verwenden in the sense “to turn towards one another”, became the adjective verwandt “related”, while unverwandt “without turning away” describes a fixed gaze.^[10][5][11]

Timeline

• Old High German – firwenten “to turn away” appears in a gloss.^[7][3]
• 15th century – The participle verwant is used as an adjective, the later verwandt “related”.^[10][5]
• 1561 – Maaler records the sense “to turn something in a particular direction”, the basis of “to use”.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To use or employ something for a particular purpose: Für den Kuchen verwendet sie nur Dinkelmehl.^[2][1]
2. To spend or devote time, effort or money on something: Er hat viel Mühe auf die Übersetzung verwandt.^[2]
3. To employ a person for a task: Den neuen Kollegen kann man überall verwenden.^[2]
4. To make use of knowledge or skills: Bei dieser Arbeit kann sie ihr Spanisch gut verwenden.^[2]
5. (reflexive, formal) sich verwenden: to intercede for someone: Der Pfarrer hat sich beim Bürgermeister für die Familie verwendet.^[2][1]

Word family

• Verwendung
• verwendbar
• Verwender
• verwandt
• unverwandt

Related words

• anwenden
• wenden
• winden
• gewandt
• English wend

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
4. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 982
5. ^ a b c d Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
6. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 379
7. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 25, 2205
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
9. ^ a b c d e Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
10. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 958
11. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 905