selig

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See also: Selig

German[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle High German sælic, sælec, nominalized sælde, from Old High German sālīg,[1] nominalized sālida, from Proto-West Germanic *sālīg, derived from *sāli.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈzeːlɪç/ (standard)
  • IPA(key): /ˈzeːlɪk/, /ˈseːlɪk/ (standard German variant in southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: se‧lig

Adjective[edit]

selig (strong nominative masculine singular seliger, comparative seliger, superlative am seligsten)

  1. very or deeply happy; overjoyed
    Synonym: überglücklich
    Sie lächelte zurück, und er war selig.
    She smiled back, and he was overjoyed.
  2. expressing such happiness; beatific
    Sie betrachtete das Neugeborene mit seligen Blicken.
    She looked at the newborn with beatific glances.
  3. unworried; unanxious; tranquil
    Synonyms: sorgenlos, friedlich, friedvoll
    Er ging ins Bett und fiel in einen seligen Schlaf.
    He went to bed and fell into a tranquil sleep.
  4. (chiefly Christianity) having been granted the eternal happiness of heaven
    Synonyms: erlöst, gerettet, im Himmel
    Wer unbußfertig ist, kann nicht selig werden.
    They who are impenitent cannot go to heaven.
  5. (Roman Catholicism) blessed (having been beatified)
    die selige Jungfrau und Gottesmutter
    the blessed Virgin and Mother of God
  6. (following mention of a dead person) Short for Gott hab ihn selig or Gott hab sie selig.
    Meine Mutter selig hat immer gesagt...
    My mother – God rest her soul – used to say... ≈ My late mother used to say...

Declension[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Friedrich Kluge (1989) “selig”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the German Language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN

Further reading[edit]

  • selig” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • selig” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • selig” in Duden online