Etymologically
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wichtig

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈvɪçtɪç/[1]
  • Austria, southern Germany: /ˈvɪçtɪk/[1]

Forms

wichtig (strong nominative masculine singular wichtiger, comparative wichtiger, superlative am wichtigsten)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German wihtec (“sold by weight”), borrowed from Middle Low German wichtich (“weighed, heavy”), from wichte (“weight”).[2][3][4] The noun is a form without the prefix of the word that became Gewicht, so the adjective first meant “weighed, having full weight”.[3][4][5] Old Frisian wichtich belongs with it.[3][6]

The Grimms' dictionary places its origin in northern Middle Low German, where such prefixes were often dropped, and points to the earliest records and to early loans into the Scandinavian languages from 1408, the source of Swedish viktig and Danish vigtig.[6] As a word of the Hanseatic trade it spread from the northern towns first into East Central German and then, by the 16th century, over the whole German-speaking area.[3][6] Comparable formations are Dutch gewichtig and English weighty.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Late Middle High German (Central German) wihtec is recorded at the end of the 14th century, meaning “sold by weight, weighed, of full weight”.[3][7]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense “weighty, significant”, the only one today, begins in the 16th century and becomes common in the 18th.[3] Luther already writes of eine ewige und über alle Maße wichtige Herrlichkeit (2 Corinthians 4:17), while Lessing and Wieland still use the concrete sense for gold coins.[8] Around 1800 Adelung lists “heavy” as rare and “of full weight” for coins as current.[9] The concrete sense survives in vollwichtig in numismatics.[8]

Of persons it meant “influential” occasionally in the 16th and 17th centuries and above all in the 18th, perhaps influenced by gewichtig.[8] Für wichtig halten is recorded from the 17th century and sich wichtig machen “to show off” from the 18th.[3] Campe gives the disparaging sense “self-important”, as in a wichtige Miene.[8] Wichtigkeit dates from the 16th century, and Wichte “specific gravity” is a revival of the old noun in the mid-20th century.[3]

Timeline

  • End of the 14th century – Central German wihtec “of full weight” is recorded.[3]
  • 1408 – An Old Swedish loan of the word is recorded.[6]
  • 16th century – The word has spread over the whole German area, and the figurative sense begins.[3] Wichtigkeit appears.[3]
  • 17th century – für wichtig halten is recorded.[3]
  • 18th century – The figurative sense becomes common, and sich wichtig machen appears.[3]
  • Mid-20th century – Wichte “specific gravity” is revived.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. important, significant, of great consequence for someone or something: ein wichtiger Termin;[5][1] Schlaf ist für Kinder sehr wichtig.[5][1]
  2. Of a person: influential, prominent.[5][8]
  3. (disparaging) Self-important, in sich wichtig machen, sich wichtig tun.[3][8]
  4. (obsolete) Of coins: of full weight.[9][8]

Word family

  • Wichtigkeit
  • Wichtigtuer
  • wichtigtuerisch
  • vollwichtig
  • Gewicht
  • gewichtig
  • wiegen
  • English weighty

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 985
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  4. ^ a b Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
  5. ^ a b c d Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  6. ^ 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. 29, 823
  7. ^ Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 3, 883
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  9. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf