Macht German · revision 36127

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /maχt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Macht''' ''f'' (genitive Macht, plural Mächte)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|maht]], [[inh|goh|maht]], [[inh|gem-pro|*mahtiz|t=might, power]].^(Kluge 2011|590)^(EWA)^(Wiktionary) The same word is [[got|𐌼𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃|tr=mahts]], [[ang|meaht]] or [[m|ang|miht]], [[ofs|macht]], [[osx|maht]] and [[nl|macht]], and in English [[m|en|might]]; [[non|máttr]] is a masculine of slightly different formation.^(Kluge 2011|590)^(Kroonen 2013)^(EWA|6, 54)

+

+ It is an abstract noun formed with a t-suffix from the preterite-present verb [[gem-pro|*maganą|t=to be able]] that survives in [[mögen]].^(Kluge 2011|590)^(EWA|6, 54)^(Kroonen 2013) The Old Norse noun continues a similar abstract with a tu-suffix.^(Kroonen 2013)^(EWA|6, 54) Köbler compares [[ine-pro|*magʰ-|t=to be able, help]].^(Köbler AHD)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''maht'' is found in glosses from about 765, the Straßburg Oaths, Tatian, Otfrid and Notker, meaning “ability, faculty, strength, power, force, possibility”, also “nature, essence”.^(Köbler AHD)^(EWA|6, 54)^(Schützeichel 2012|213) From the 9th or 10th century it is also used of the male genitals, as is Old Saxon ''maht'' in 10th-century glosses.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(EWA|6, 54)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The first sense was bodily strength: Luther and Maaler still have ''mit aller Macht'' and ''mit gantzer Macht und stercke'', and Schiller could speak of his own bodily powers as ''meine Mächte''.^(Paul 2002) From this came “active force”, often of God and the powers of heaven and hell (''Macht der Finsternis'' after Luke 22:53), and since the 18th century of mental and spiritual forces, such as ''die Macht der Liebe''.^(Paul 2002) The genital sense lives on in [[Gemächt]].^(Pfeifer 1993)

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+ The plural was ''Machten'' as well as ''Mächte'' until the 18th century, and the old form survives in [[Vollmacht]] and [[Ohnmacht]].^(Paul 2002)^(DWB|12, 1397) The sense of rule and political authority (''an die Macht kommen'') and of a powerful state, as in [[Seemacht]] (17th century) and [[Großmacht]], is now central.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Pfeifer 1993) Compounds include [[Machthaber]] and [[Machtwort]] (both 16th century).^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014|534)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''maht'' appears in glosses.^(Kluge 2011|590)^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 9th–10th century – ''maht'' is also used of the male genitals.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 16th century – ''Machthaber'' and ''Machtwort'' are recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014|534)

+ * 17th century – First record of ''Seemacht''.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 18th century – ''Macht'' is applied to mental and spiritual forces; the plural ''Machten'' falls out of use.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 20th century – The verb ''entmachten'' “to deprive of power” is formed.^(Duden 7 2014|534)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|power]] and [[m|en|influence]]: all the means and forces someone has at their disposal over others;^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary) ''alles tun, was in seiner Macht steht'', to do everything in one's power;^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary) ''mit aller Macht'', with all one's strength.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(usually plural)'' A force with special or mysterious power: ''höhere Mächte'', ''die Mächte der Finsternis''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # Political or public [[m|en|authority]], rule: ''an die Macht kommen'', to come to power.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # A powerful state, or an influential group: [[Großmacht]], ''die Westmächte''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mächtig]]

+ * [[Allmacht]]

+ * [[Ohnmacht]]

+ * [[Vollmacht]]

+ * [[Übermacht]]

+ * [[Großmacht]]

+ * [[Machthaber]]

+ * [[Machtwort]]

+ * [[machtlos]]

+ * [[machtvoll]]

+ * [[entmachten]]

+ * [[Besatzungsmacht]]

+ * [[Streitmacht]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mögen]]

+ * [[vermögen]]

+ * [[Gemächt]]

+ * [[en|might]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Macht geht vor Recht'' “might goes before right” is a proverb for the experience that power prevails over law.^(Duden GWDS 1999) The word also appears in female names such as ''Mathilde'' and ''Mechthild''.^(Duden 7 2014|534)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}