abschließen German · revision 35617

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=16th century|origins=gem-pro *sleutaną}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈʔapʃliːsn̩/, /ˈʔapʃliːsən/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''abschließen''' (class 2 strong, third-person singular present schließt ab, past tense schloss ab, past participle abgeschlossen, past subjunctive schlösse ab, auxiliary haben)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|de|ab-|schließen|t2=to close, lock]].^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE) Paul traces it to [[gml|afsluten]], and finds it in High German from the 16th century, though it only became common in the 18th.^(Paul 2002)

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+ The base verb [[schließen]] is [[m|gmh|sliezen]], [[goh|sliozan]], beside [[gml|sluten]] and [[ofs|slūta]].^(Kluge 2011|811) Kluge compares [[la|claudō|t=to shut]], [[m|la|clāvis|t=key, bolt]], [[grc|κλείς|tr=kleís|t=bar, hook, key]] and [[cu|ключити|tr=ključiti|t=to close]], so that to close was originally “to put a bolt or peg in”.^(Kluge 2011|811) Pfeifer explains the Germanic forms from [[ine-pro|*skleud-]] by a simplification of the initial cluster, which he marks as a hypothesis.^(Pfeifer 1993)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record, from West Central German in 1561, has the sense “to bring to an end”, used of accounts and contracts.^(Paul 2002)^(DWB2|1, 1339) The sense “to lock with a key or bolt” is found by 1650, in Gryphius.^(Paul 2002)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Adelung (1774) gives both senses: to lock a door, a room or a house, and, figuratively, to close accounts and conclude a contract or a deal.^(Adelung 1793)^(Paul 2002) The noun [[Abschluss]] followed in 1727, in the senses of concluding a deal and of ending something.^(Paul 2002)

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+ In the late 18th century the meaning widened.^(Paul 2002) Schiller used ''sich abschließen'' for shutting oneself off from the world, Jean Paul used the verb intransitively, “to end”, and Goethe, who used it more than 800 times, used it of a work of art that must be complete in itself.^(Paul 2002) Tieck has ''mit etwas abschließen'', to put something behind one in resignation.^(Paul 2002) In the sense “to lock”, Paul notes, regional German prefers ''schließen'', ''zuschließen'' or, in the south, ''zusperren'' and ''absperren''.^(Paul 2002)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 16th century – ''abschließen'' is recorded in High German, after Middle Low German ''afsluten''.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1561 – First record, in the sense “to bring to an end”.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1650 – Gryphius uses it in the sense “to lock”.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1727 – First record of the noun ''Abschluß''.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1774 – Adelung records the closing of accounts and of contracts.^(Paul 2002)^(Adelung 1793)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|lock]] (a room, a cupboard, a car) with a key: ''Hast du die Haustür abgeschlossen?''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(regional)'' To lock something away: ''den Schmuck abschließen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # To [[m|en|seal]] off, to cut off from the surroundings: ''eine Dose luftdicht abschließen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To form the end or boundary of something: ''Eine Mauer schließt den Garten nach Norden ab.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # To [[m|en|finish]], to complete (studies, work, a book): ''Er hat sein Studium im Sommer abgeschlossen.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(intransitive, mit)'' To end with something, and ''mit etwas abgeschlossen haben'', to have put something behind one: ''mit der Vergangenheit abschließen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002)

+ # To [[m|en|conclude]] (a contract, an insurance policy, a deal, a bet): ''einen Mietvertrag abschließen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Abschluss]]

+ * [[abschließend]]

+ * [[abgeschlossen]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[schließen]]

+ * [[Schluss]]

+ * [[Schloss]]

+ * [[Schlüssel]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}