Where does “Befehlsnotstand” come from?
Befehlsnotstand (German) comes from German Notstand, from German nōt, from Middle High German nōt, from Old High German nōt, from Proto-West Germanic *naudi, from Proto-Germanic naudiz — need; trouble, distress; compulsion, force.
Befehlsnotstand (German): forcible coercion to obey unlawful orders a legal situation in which someone can be absolved of responsibility for carrying out an illegal act, including a war crime, because they were threatened with great bodily injury or death if they refused
Definitions
- forcible coercion to obey unlawful orders a legal situation in which someone can be absolved of responsibility for carrying out an illegal act, including a war crime, because they were threatened with great bodily injury or death if they refused
Ancestry of “Befehlsnotstand”, step by step
Befehlsnotstand traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via German Notstand
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | Notstand | emergency, state of emergency |
| 2 | German | nōt | need, imminence |
| 3 | Middle High German | nōt | — |
| 4 | Old High German | nōt | control (by violence), compulsion, coercion, extortion |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | *naudi | force, compulsion |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | naudiz | need; trouble, distress; compulsion, force |