“For Day Thing”
Hello everyone,
day 13 of our German learning Advent Calendar, and today we’ll take another peek into the book I am working on and get a sweet little bit of vocabulary-chocolate with an etymology filling. Yummy.
Ladies and gentlemen… get ready for
***
verteidigen
It’s a weird looking word that seems to have no connection to anything, but in fact it has a connection to… thing.
Thing and its German brother das Ding come from the Germanic ting, which had a really crucial role in the Germanic society because the ting was a (no pun intended) meeting of the tribe leaders, which often had the function of a court.
Back then, there was also the verb “tagetingen”, a combination of Tag (day) and ting, which was later shortened to “teidingen”. This verb expressed the idea of having a court hearing or debate. And the ver added a notion of for to it giving the verb a sense of speaking for your case, or for someone. Soon, it broadened beyond the context of a ting and became the general German word for to defend.
die Verteidigung – the defense (also in sport), vindication
der Verteidiger – the defender (sports), the defense attorney
- Ich habe meine Theorie über Einhörner verteidigt.
- I defended my theory about unicorns.
***
As usual, let me know your questions and comments in the… well… comments. Habt einen schönen Tag und bis morgen :)
wpDiscuz
