zwischen

Forms

zwischen (preposition with the dative or accusative)^[1][2]

Etymology

It is Middle High German zwischen, shortened from Middle High German “in zwischen”, “enzwischen”, Old High German “in zuiskēn”, “untar zwiskēn” “in the middle of two”.^[3][4][5] The second word of the phrase is the dative plural of the adjective inherited from Old High German zwiski (“twofold, in pairs, (plural) both”), inherited from Proto-West Germanic *twisk, inherited from Proto-Germanic *twiskaz (“twofold”), which otherwise died out.^[6][4][1][5] Related are Old Saxon twisk (“twofold”), Old Frisian tuisk, Middle Low German twisken, Dutch tussen and Old English betweox; compare English betwixt.^[4][7][6]

The adjective was formed with the suffix ⟨-ko-⟩ from the multiplicative adverb Proto-Indo-European *dwís (“twice”), also behind Zwirn and Zwilling; its base is zwei.^[6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adjective zwiski “twofold, both” is recorded from the 8th century, and the phrases untar zwiskēn “in the middle of two” and untar in zwiskēn “among one another” from the 9th.^[6][4] An Old High German gloss has in zuiski “in turn”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

As the fixed phrase became a preposition, it took over the sense “between” from unter, and like other prepositions it governs the dative for position and the accusative for movement (er steht zwischen mir und dir – sie stellt sich zwischen dich und mich).^[5] It has been used of time since the 14th century.^[4] It is also applied to states and relations (er schwebt zwischen Furcht und Hoffnung “he hovers between fear and hope”), and loosely for “among”, as already in Luther's und säete Unkraut zwischen den Weizen “and sowed weeds among the wheat”.^[5] Middle High German enzwischen also gave the adverb inzwischen.^[3]

Timeline

• 8th century – Old High German zwiski “twofold” is recorded.^[6][4]
• 9th century – untar zwiskēn “between” is recorded.^[6][4]
• Middle High German – The phrase is shortened to zwischen.^[3][4]
• 14th century – zwischen is first used of time.^[4]

Meanings

Preposition

1. With the dative: between, in the space bounded by two things (er steht dort zwischen seinem Vater und seinem Bruder).^[2][1]
2. With the dative: among, in the midst of (der Brief lag zwischen alten Papieren).^[2][1]
3. With the accusative: into a position between (er stellt das Auto zwischen zwei Straßenbäume).^[2]
4. Between two points in time or two values.^[2][4]
5. Expressing a relation, a difference or a state between two things.^[5][8]

Word family

• dazwischen
• inzwischen
• Zwischenraum
• Zwischenzeit
• Zwischenfall

Related words

• zwei
• Zwirn
• Zwilling
• English betwixt

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
3. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 960
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
5. ^ a b c d e Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
6. ^ a b c d e f Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 1021
7. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 32, 1321
8. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org