wirklich

Forms

wirklich (strong nominative masculine singular wirklicher, comparative wirklicher, superlative am wirklichsten)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German würkelich, also wirkelich, formed by the mystics from wirken with the suffix -lich, meaning “acting, done by acting”.^[2][3][1] The Grimms record würkenlich and wurklich beside these, with vowels matching those of the verb, and Middle Low German werklik in the north.^[4]

The verb wirken combines two ablaut variants: the zero grade Proto-Germanic *wurkijaną, as in Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌺𐌾𐌰𐌽 (waurkjan), Old Norse yrkja, Old English wyrcan and Old High German wurken, and the full grade of Old High German wirken.^[2][3] It belongs with Werk, which corresponds to Ancient Greek ἔργον (érgon, “work”), to the root Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- (“to work, do”).^[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Kluge dates the word to the 13th century;^[2][6][7] Paul and Köbler place the first records in Meister Eckhart, around 1300, in the sense “active, acting”.^[2][6][7] Tauler writes that man, made in God's image, should be wúrklich “striving” towards God.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Late Middle High German wirkelich meant “active, effective, working”.^[3][8] The sense “real, actual”, opposed to what is only thought or apparent, is recorded here and there from the 15th century, as in Paracelsus' sichtbar …, greifflich und wircklich.^[6][8] In contrast with wirksam, which from the 17th century took over the sense “active”, the adjective came generally to mean “real” in the 18th century.^[2][6] Its use as an intensifying adverb, “really, indeed”, also dates from the 15th century.^[6]

The old sense survives in titles such as Wirklicher Geheimer Rat, where wirklich first meant “in office”, as opposed to a merely honorary title.^[4][9] In south-western German it could also mean “present, current”, as in Schiller.^[6] Hungarian borrowed the word as virtigli (1877).^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – Meister Eckhart uses würkelich “active”.^[6][7]
• 15th century – First records of the senses “real” and “really”.^[6][8]
• 16th century – Wirklichkeit takes on its modern sense “reality”.^[6]
• 17th century – wirksam replaces wirklich in the sense “active”.^[6]
• 18th century – “real” becomes the general sense.^[2]
• 1877 – Hungarian virtigli is recorded.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. real, existing in reality, corresponding to the facts: eine wirkliche Begebenheit.^[11][1]
2. True, genuine, in the proper sense of the word: ein wirklicher Freund.^[11]

Adverb

1. really, actually, indeed, used for emphasis: Das weiß ich wirklich nicht.^[11][1]

Word family

• Wirklichkeit
• verwirklichen
• unwirklich

Related words

• wirken
• Werk
• wirksam
• Wirkung

Usage notes

Wirklich und wahrhaftig is an emphatic “truly”, and Wirklich? expresses surprise.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 991
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 30, 575
5. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 983
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
8. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
9. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
10. ^ a b Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
11. ^ a b c d Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag