interessant German · revision 35772

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1740, Frederick the Great|origins=la intersum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˌɪn.tə.ʁɛˈsant/, /ˌɪn.tʁəˈsant/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''interessant''' (strong nominative masculine singular interessanter, comparative interessanter, superlative am interessantesten)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|intéressant]], the present participle of [[m|fr|intéresser|t=to interest]], borrowed at the beginning of the 18th century.^(DFWB)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden GWDS 1999) The verb belongs with [[m|fr|intérêt|t=interest]], which goes back to [[la|intersum|alt=interesse|t=to be between, take part; to be of importance]], from [[m|la|inter|t=between]] and [[m|la|sum|alt=esse|t=to be]].^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary DE) German had already borrowed the Latin infinitive as [[Interesse]] in the 13th–15th century, at first as a legal term for damages.^(Kluge 2011|448)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch gives Frederick the Great's note of 1740 as the first record: newspapers, if they are to be ''interessant'', must not be hampered.^(DFWB) The word first belonged to literary criticism, and Sulzer listed it in 1771 as a term of the fine arts.^(DFWB)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By the end of the 18th century ''interessant'' had passed into general use and soon became a colourless word of polite conversation: in a letter of 1807 Goethe apologises for having to use such common society words of a man.^(DFWB) Lessing in 1767 and Goethe's ''Werther'' (1774) already use it of scenes and stories that catch the reader's attention.^(DFWB) The noun's sense “attention, sympathy” itself came from French in the 18th century, which is the sense the adjective was formed on.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)^(DWB|10, 2148) In commercial language it also means “promising profit”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Duden Fremdwörterbuch 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1740 – Frederick the Great writes that newspapers must not be hampered if they are to be ''interessant''.^(DFWB)

+ * 1767 – Lessing uses it in his ''Hamburgische Dramaturgie''.^(DFWB)

+ * 1771 – Sulzer lists it as a term of the fine arts.^(DFWB)

+ * 1774 – Goethe's ''Werther'' uses it of a story that touches him.^(DFWB)

+ * End of the 18th century – It becomes a word of everyday speech.^(DFWB)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Arousing [[m|en|interest]] or attention; [[m|en|absorbing]]: ''ein interessanter Film'';^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary) ''sich interessant machen'' “to draw attention to oneself”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(commerce)'' Promising [[m|en|profit]] or advantage: ''Das Angebot ist für uns nicht interessant.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Duden Fremdwörterbuch 2007)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # In an interesting way: ''Er kann sehr interessant erzählen.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[uninteressant]]

+ * [[interessanterweise]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Interesse]]

+ * [[interessieren]]

+ * [[Interessent]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}