Verhältnis German · revision 35634

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation, calque|attested=1667|origins=goh firhaltan}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /fɛɐ̯ˈhɛltnɪs/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Verhältnis''' ''n'' (genitive Verhältnisses, plural Verhältnisse)^(Wiktionary)

+ The older spelling was ''Verhältniß''.^(Wiktionary) In the 18th century the gender wavered between neuter and feminine, as with other nouns in ''-nis'': Christian Wolff and the young Kant used the feminine.^(DWB|25, 515)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|de|verhalten|-nis]], with umlaut; only the oldest record has the form without umlaut.^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)^(DWB|25, 515) In the sense “relation” it was proposed in 1667 by Johann Christoph Sturm as a German word for [[la|prōportiō|t=proportion]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)^(Kluge 2011|952) The verb [[verhalten]] is Middle High German [[m|gmh|verhalten|t=to keep closed, hold back]], Old High German [[m|goh|firhaltan]], which around 800 rendered Latin [[m|la|prōstituō]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kluge 2011|952)^(Köbler AHD) See [[halten]] for its further origin.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Apart from an isolated early instance in Paul Melissus's version of the Psalms, where it means “keeping, protection” (''du bist mein verhaltnis''), the noun is only found from the 17th century on and became common in the 18th; the dictionaries before Adelung do not list it.^(DWB|25, 515)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Most uses go back to the reflexive verb ''sich verhalten'' “to be in a state, stand in a relation”: the noun came to mean a state or situation, and in the plural the circumstances of a person or a place, frequent in Goethe.^(DWB|25, 515)^(Paul 2002) The older construction was ''Verhältnis mit'', in Lessing, Wieland and E. T. A. Hoffmann, where modern German has ''Verhältnis zu''.^(Paul 2002) In mathematics and in the comparison of things it kept the sense of Latin ''proportio'': ''im Verhältnis zu'', ''in keinem Verhältnis stehen''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ From about 1800 colloquial German used it for a love affair (Goethe's ''Wahlverwandtschaften'' speaks of a secret ''Verhältnis''), and by the end of the 19th century it could name the lover too: ''sie ist sein Verhältnis''.^(Paul 2002) The ''dreieckiges Verhältnis'' of Ibsen's ''Hedda Gabler'' in its German translation is the source of ''Dreiecksverhältnis'' “love triangle”.^(Paul 2002) ''verhältnismäßig'' “proportionate, relatively” is recorded by Adelung in 1780, and Campe used ''Verhältniswort'' as a German word for [[Präposition]].^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 800 – Old High German ''firhaltan'' renders Latin ''prostituere''.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1667 – Sturm proposes ''Verhältnis'' for Latin ''proportio''.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)

+ * 18th century – The word becomes common in the senses “relation” and “state”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB|25, 515)

+ * 1780 – Adelung records ''verhältnismäßig''.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)

+ * c. 1800 – First use for a love affair, in Goethe's ''Wahlverwandtschaften''.^(Paul 2002)

+ * Late 19th century – ''Verhältnis'' can also mean the lover.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|ratio]] or [[m|en|relation]] in which one thing is compared with or measured against another: ''im Verhältnis zwei zu eins'';^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary) ''im Verhältnis zu'', compared with: ''Im Verhältnis zum Vorjahr war der Winter mild.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The way someone stands towards a person or thing, a [[m|en|relationship]]: ''Sie hat ein enges Verhältnis zu ihrer Schwester.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' A lasting love [[m|en|affair]]: ''ein Verhältnis mit jemandem haben''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' The person with whom one has such an affair.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(plural)'' [[m|en|circumstance|alt=Circumstances]], conditions; one's means: ''in bescheidenen Verhältnissen leben'', ''über seine Verhältnisse leben'' “to live beyond one's means”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[verhältnismäßig]]

+ * [[Verhältniswort]]

+ * [[Verhältniswahl]]

+ * [[Missverhältnis]]

+ * [[Liebesverhältnis]]

+ * [[Dreiecksverhältnis]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[verhalten]]

+ * [[halten]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}