leiten German · revision 35561

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=8th century, Old High German glosses|origins=ine-pro *leit-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈlaɪ̯tən/, [ˈlaɪ̯tn̩]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''leiten''' (third-person singular present leitet, past tense leitete, past participle geleitet, auxiliary haben)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|leiten]], [[inh|goh|leiten]], also [[m|goh|leitōn]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*laidijan]], [[inh|gem-pro|*laidijaną|t=to cause to go, lead]].^(Kluge 2011|571)^(Wiktionary)^(Kroonen 2013) The same verb is [[osx|lēdian]], [[non|leiða]], [[ang|lǣdan]] and [[ofs|lēda]], and today [[nl|leiden]], [[en|lead]], [[sv|leda]] and [[is|leiða]].^(Kluge 2011|571)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Orel 2003) It is not recorded in Gothic.^(DWB|12, 728)

+

+ It is the causative of [[gem-pro|*līþaną|t=to go, pass]], the verb that became [[leiden]], and so properly meant “to make go”.^(Kluge 2011|571)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Orel 2003) Kroonen reconstructs [[ine-pro|*loit-éye-|alt=*loit-éie-]], with the o-grade typical of causatives, the same grade as in [[m|non|leið]] and [[m|ang|lād|t=way, journey]].^(Kroonen 2013)^(Pfeifer 1993) Köbler gives the root as [[ine-pro|*leit-|t=to go, go away]].^(Köbler AHD) The Grimms' dictionary noted that the different dental consonants of the causative and its base verb were unexplained.^(DWB|12, 728) [[Lotse]] belongs to the same family.^(Kluge 2011|571)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''leiten'' is recorded from the 8th century, first in glosses of about 765, then in the Tatian, Otfrid, Notker, the ''Muspilli'' and other texts.^(Kluge 2011|571)^(Köbler AHD)^(EWA|5, 1153) It meant “to lead, guide, bring, accompany, carry”, and in phrases ''den tag leiten'' “to spend the day”, ''lîb leiten'' “to lead a life” and ''quena leiten'' “to take a wife home, marry”.^(EWA|5, 1153)^(Schützeichel 2012|196)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Paul hears the original sense “to make go” in uses with an expression of place, and in [[geleiten]].^(Paul 2002) From it came “to direct, be in charge of”, as of an institute or a company, and in the 19th century technical German used it of energy passing through a material: copper ''leitet''.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993) [[Leitung]] “guidance, management” is from the 16th century, and its sense “wires, cable” from the 19th.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ [[Leitartikel]] “editorial” (1848) is a loan translation of English ''leading article'', after ''Hauptartikel'' (1837) and Gutzkow's ''leitender Artikel'' (1839).^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993) [[Leitfaden]] (1741, Kant 1747) was modelled on Ariadne's thread, and [[Leithammel]], the bellwether, recorded by Alberus in 1540, became a scornful word for a leader whom the crowd follows blindly at the end of the 18th century.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993) ''Leitmotiv'' was taken into English in 1876, and ''Leitkultur'', a disputed slogan of 2000, into Modern Hebrew.^(LWP)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 765 – Old High German ''leiten'' appears in glosses.^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 9th century – ''leitāri'' “leader” is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1540 – Alberus records [[Leithammel]].^(Paul 2002)

+ * 16th century – [[Leitung]] appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1741 – ''Leit-Faden'' is first recorded;^(Paul 2002) Kant writes [[Leitfaden]] in 1747.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1848 – [[Leitartikel]] is first recorded.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1876 – ''leitmotiv'' is first recorded in English.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|lead]], be in charge of, [[m|en|manage]]: ''eine Schule leiten'', ''ein Spiel leiten'' “to referee a match”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To guide or accompany someone somewhere: ''die Gäste in den Saal leiten''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # To guide by influence: ''sich von Gefühlen leiten lassen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # To direct along a route: ''Wasser durch Rohre leiten'', ''den Verkehr umleiten''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(physics)'' To [[m|en|conduct]] heat, electricity or sound.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[geleiten]]

+ * [[Geleit]]

+ * [[anleiten]]

+ * [[ableiten]]

+ * [[einleiten]]

+ * [[herleiten]]

+ * [[umleiten]]

+ * [[verleiten]]

+ * [[weiterleiten]]

+ * [[Leiter]]

+ * [[Leiterin]]

+ * [[Leitung]]

+ * [[Leitartikel]]

+ * [[Leitfaden]]

+ * [[Leithammel]]

+ * [[Leitstern]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[leiden]]

+ * [[Lotse]]

+ * [[en|lead]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Etwas in die Wege leiten'' “to set something in motion” is recorded from 1936.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}