Where does “geesteswetenschap” come from?
geesteswetenschap (Dutch) comes from German geisteswissenschaft, from German Wissenschaft, from German Wissen, from German wissen, from German Besserwisser, from German besser, from Middle High German beȥȥer, from Old High German beȥȥiro — to join; to unite; to suit.
geesteswetenschap (Dutch): the humanities
Definitions
- the humanities
Ancestry of “geesteswetenschap”, step by step
geesteswetenschap traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via German geisteswissenschaft
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | geisteswissenschaft | humanities, liberal arts, Geisteswissenschaften the branch of learning that includes the arts, classics, philosophy and history etc |
| 2 | German | Wissenschaft | science; academia, scholarship; academia,... |
| 3 | German | Wissen | knowledge |
| 4 | German | wissen | to know; to be aware of; to remember |
| 5 | German | Besserwisser | know-it-all, wiseguy, wiseacre, smart aleck |
| 6 | German | besser | comparative degree of gut; better; inflection of... |
| 7 | Middle High German | beȥȥer | — |
| 8 | Old High German | beȥȥiro | better |
| 9 | Proto-West Germanic | *batiʀō | better |
| 10 | Proto-Germanic | batizô | comparative degree of *gōdaz; comparative degree... |
| 11 | Proto-Germanic | gōdaz | good |
| 12 | Proto-Germanic | gadaną | — |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | gʰedʰ- | to join; to unite; to suit |
via Dutch geest
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dutch | geest | ghost, spirit; mind, mental conscience; life... |
| 2 | Middle Dutch | gêest | — |
| 3 | Old Dutch | gēst | — |
| 4 | Old Dutch | gist | — |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | jestu | fermentation; byproducts or agents of... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | jestuz | fermentation; byproducts or agents of... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | yes- | to foam; to boil |
via Dutch wetenschap
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dutch | wetenschap | knowledge; science, scholarly knowledge,... |
| 2 | Dutch | weten | to know; to remember; to be able to, to manage to |
| 3 | Middle Dutch | wēten | to know knowledge |
| 4 | Old Dutch | wītan | to know |