zufolge

Forms

zufolge^[1]

Etymology

It is from German zu + Folge, formed in chancery language after the model of zuliebe and zugunsten; the Grimms' dictionary rejects the earlier view that it was contracted from a purpose clause.^[2] The noun Folge belongs to folgen, inherited from Middle High German volgen, inherited from Old High German folgēn, inherited from Proto-Germanic *fulgāną (“to follow”).^[3] The verb is also in Old Norse fylgja, Old English folgian and Old Frisian folgia, but not in Gothic, and it has no clear relatives outside Germanic.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is in general use from the 17th century, first written separately: deme mir auffgetragenem befehle zu folge (“in accordance with the order given to me”, Rist, 1648) and zu volge meines brieffs (“in accordance with my letter”, Moscherosch, 1650).^[2]

Semantic evolution

At first it marked a logical consequence of an opinion or rule, then a reference to a source (“according to a legend”, Goethe), and it weakened to “in accordance with”, so that it could also be used of actual effects.^[2] Kramer records zufolgedessen “consequently”.^[2]

Timeline

• 1648 – Rist writes befehle zu folge.^[2]
• 1650 – Moscherosch uses zu volge meines brieffs.^[2]
• 18th century – Wieland and Lessing use zufolge after a dative noun.^[2]

Meanings

Preposition

1. According to, as stated by; in accordance with: dem Wetterbericht zufolge “according to the weather forecast”.^[5][1]

Related words

• Folge
• folgen
• infolge

Usage notes

Placed after its noun, zufolge takes the dative; placed before it, it takes the genitive (zufolge des Berichts), which is less common.^[5][2] A dative after a preceding zufolge is very rare, as in Kant's zufolge dem freiheitsbegriffe.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 32, 364
3. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 308
4. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 280
5. ^ a b Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag