der Verteidiger
Meanings
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A fun look at the meaning of "wehren" and why a damn evolved into all kinds of words for fighting and defending.
Vocab:
wehren, das Wehr, die Feuerwehr, die Notwehr, die Bundeswehr, abwehren, das Gewehr, verteidigen
"verteidigen" means "to defend". In this short post, we'll learn why and see how to use it.
Word Family
Root: *ten-
The core meaning of this root was:
stretch, extend
The main offspring are thing and das Ding – yes, hear me out.
In the days of the Germanic tribes, the t(h)ing was the assembly of elders which decided on matters of the community. The Norwegian parliament for example is still called Storting.
The origin of this idea of assembly was probably the stretch of time that the meeting lasted. Like as if we say “Oh man… I have the TWO HOURS tomorrow”. and your coworker might understand that you’re going to have a zoom call.
And then, in German and English, the word shifted from just the assembly toward the matter of the assembly – the issue. And then it broadened to thing.
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