Etymologically
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wirklich

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈvɪʁklɪç/, [ˈvɪɐ̯kʰlɪç][1]

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

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