Etymologically
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vorsehen

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Pronunciation

  • [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌzeːən], [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌseːn][1]

Forms

vorsehen (class 5 strong, third-person singular present sieht vor, past tense sah vor, past participle vorgesehen, past subjunctive sähe vor, auxiliary haben)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German vorsëhen, inherited from Old High German forasëhan (“to foresee”), inherited from Proto-West Germanic *forēsehwan, formed from vor- and sehen.[1][2][3] The same compound is Old English foresēon, the source of English foresee, and Dutch voorzien; Danish forese is borrowed from German.[1][4]

The verb “to see” is Old High German sehan, from Proto-Germanic *sehwaną, also in Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍈𐌰𐌽 (saiƕan), Old Norse sjá and Old English sēon.[5][6] In meaning, Old Irish rosc (“eye”), Albanian shoh (“to see”) and Hittite šakuwa (“eyes”) correspond outside Germanic.[5][6] Whether the verb is the root Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to follow”) of Latin sequor, as “to follow with the eyes”, is hard to judge.[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German forasehan “to foresee, consider” is recorded in glosses from about 790, and in the Benedictine Rule and Notker;[2] furisehan appears in glosses too.[2]

Semantic evolution

The old sense “to foresee” lasted into Goethe's time, as in his auf eine nicht vorzusehende Weise; theology used it of God predestining.[3] What remains common is “to plan something to be done later”, as in the im Testament vorgesehene Nachwahl in Prutz, and so a law sieht a penalty vor.[3][7] Middle High German vürsehen meant “to look forward”, and reflexively “to take precautions”.[7] From the 17th century sich vorsehen was increasingly used for “to make provision”, and then “to be careful”.[3] The older language used fürsehen and vorsehen side by side.[4] The noun Vorsehung “providence” dates from Middle High German and, since Early New High German, has been said only of God.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 790 – Old High German forasehan appears in glosses.[2]
  • 17th century – sich vorsehen “to make provision, be careful” spreads.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To look out from behind something; to show, stick out from under something: Unter der Jacke sah das Hemd vor.[7][1]
  2. To plan or intend to do something at a certain time: Für Freitag ist ein Ausflug ans Meer vorgesehen.[7][1]
  3. To set aside or intend for a purpose or a post: Das Geld ist für den neuen Spielplatz vorgesehen.[7][1]
  4. To stipulate, provide for: Der Vertrag sieht eine Kündigungsfrist von drei Monaten vor.[7]
  5. (reflexive) To be careful, watch out: sich vor jemandem vorsehen.[7][1]
  6. (reflexive, dated) To supply oneself, make provision.[7][1]

Word family

  • Vorsehung
  • sehen
  • versehen
  • Vorsicht
  • English foresee

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  3. ^ a b c d e f 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 Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 26, 1541
  5. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 839
  6. ^ a b c Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag