ablehnen German · revision 36285

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1523, records of the Peasants' War|origins=ine-pro *ḱley-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈapleːnən/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ablehnen''' (third-person singular present lehnt ab, past tense lehnte ab, past participle abgelehnt, auxiliary haben)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|de|ab-|lehnen]] in the early 16th century.^(Kluge 2011|7)^(Paul 2002)^(Wiktionary) It first meant “to take away something that leans against something”, though it is never recorded in a purely concrete sense; the Duden dictionary explains it as “to take the support away”, from [[Lehne]] “support, back of a seat”.^(Kluge 2011|7)^(Duden GWDS 1999) The sense “to ward off, refuse” probably arose under the influence of [[la|dēclīnō]], which however means rather “to turn aside”.^(Kluge 2011|7)^(Paul 2002)^(DWB2|1, 524) Until the 18th century it had a synonym [[m|de|ableinen]], from the old causative verb.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ The verb [[lehnen]] is [[gmh|lenen]], [[goh|hlinēn]], from West Germanic “to lean”, mixed with the causative [[m|goh|hleinen]]; it goes back to [[ine-pro|*ḱley-|t=to bend, lean]], as do [[la|clīnō]], [[grc|κλίνω|tr=klínō]] and [[lt|šlieti|alt=šliẽti|t=to lean, prop]].^(Kluge 2011|568)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The revised Grimms' dictionary has it from 1523, in a demand of the Peasants' War that the innovations introduced by chapters and parishes be done away with (''abzelenen'');^(DWB2|1, 524) Paul too dates the sense “to reject” to 1523, first in legal language.^(Paul 2002) Luther's Bible of 1530 has a variant reading ''hat sich ab gelenet'', “has turned away”, close to the spatial sense of [[lehnen]].^(DWB2|1, 524)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 16th and 17th centuries the verb often meant “to remove, avert, ward off” a danger or harm: Hans Sachs writes in 1546 that Paris accepted the beautiful gift to settle the quarrel, ''diese zwitracht zu lenen ab''.^(DWB2|1, 524) The sense “to avert” was still common in Goethe, who also used it for “to decline to do something”.^(Paul 2002) Until the middle of the 19th century it was often construed ''etwas von sich ablehnen''.^(DWB2|1, 524) The modern senses are “to decline an offer”, “to refuse a request” and “to disapprove of”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1523 – First record, in the sense “to do away with, reject”.^(DWB2|1, 524)^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1530 – A variant in Luther's Bible uses it of turning away.^(DWB2|1, 524)

+ * 1546 – Hans Sachs uses it of settling a quarrel.^(DWB2|1, 524)

+ * 18th century – The synonym ''ableinen'' goes out of use.^(Paul 2002)

+ * Mid-19th century – The construction ''von sich ablehnen'' becomes rare.^(DWB2|1, 524)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|decline]], not accept something offered: ''Sie lehnte das Angebot höflich ab.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|refuse]], turn down a request or demand: ''Der Rat lehnte den Vorschlag ab.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|disapprove]] of, not accept as right: ''Er lehnt Gewalt grundsätzlich ab.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # To reject as not applicable: ''Die Firma lehnt jede Haftung ab'';^(Duden GWDS 1999) ''(law)'' to object to a witness or judge.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Ablehnung]]

+ * [[ablehnend]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lehnen]]

+ * [[Lehne]]

+ * [[en|lean]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate ''ablehnen'' “to borrow”, from [[lehnen]] “to lend”, is recorded from 1416 to the 17th century,^(DWB2|1, 524) and it is the only sense Adelung gives.^(Adelung 1793)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}