Etymology

sehnsucht

S1E1H4N1S1U1C3H4T1

Today it means: Tender, wistful, or melancholic desire; yearning, longing. Full definition →

German Sehnsucht ← Middle High German suht ← Old High German suht
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The story

  1. Germansehnen
  2. Proto-Germanic*seukaną
  3. Proto-Germanic*suhtiz
  4. Proto-West Germanic*suhti
  5. Old High Germansuht
  6. Middle High Germansuht
  7. GermanSucht
  8. GermanSehnsucht
  9. English todaySehnsucht

Borrowed from German Sehnsucht, from sehnen (“to long”) + Sucht (“anxiety; sickness; addiction”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.