Dictionary noun *spere- sprechen Versprechung

die Versprechung

Meanings

1.
the promise(s)
(usually used in plural for empty promises)
How useful: coming soon

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Word of the Day - "versprechen"

"versprechen" has maybe the most ironic double meaning ever. Today, we'll find out what it means and how those two connect.


Word Family

Root: *spere-

The core idea of the root (according to English sources) was:

ankle

German sources have the meaning for focused on motion and describe it as

twitching with the foot, unrest

In German, it shifted toward a sense of tracking (by foot) and then kept going toward the sense of perceiving.

English doesn’t have many relatives – spur, spoor, spurn.
They haven’t shifted their meaning as much, so they’re still somewhat close to ankle or to a broad sense of twitching.

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