Etymology · Semantic Drift · Trauma · Path of Restoration
anxiety / fear / angst
[æŋˈzaɪəti]
Everyday
English has three words where German has one — and they diverged sharply: "anxiety" from Latin angere (to squeeze, choke) — same r...
attitude / mindset
[ˈætɪtjuːd]
Everyday
German Einstellung: ein-stellen = to place oneself into position. A physical, adjustable, chosen positioning. English "attitude" f...
corrupt
[kəˈrʌpt]
Political
From Latin corrumpere (com- + rumpere: to break entirely through): the same root as rupture, interrupt, corrupt data. Integrity is...
change
[tʃeɪndʒ]
Everyday
From Latin cambiare (to exchange, to swap): change as substitution. German Veränderung: Ver-änder-ung = making into the other — tr...
crisis
[ˈkraɪsɪs]
Everyday
From Greek krisis (decision, turning point, the moment of separation): from krinō (to separate, to discern). Same root as "critiqu...
chance / opportunity
[tʃɑːns]
Everyday
Old French cheance from Latin cadere (to fall): what falls, as dice fall. German borrowed "Chance" from English/French — the word...
esotericism
[ˌɛsəˈtɛrɪsɪzəm]
Everyday
From Greek esōteros (inner, belonging to the inner circle): originally the designation for teaching accessible only to those who h...
expectation
[ˌɛkspɛkˈteɪʃən]
Everyday
From Latin exspectare (ex-spectare: to look out, to watch for): the act of actively looking toward what has not yet arrived. Germa...
equanimity / composure / serenity
[ˌɛkwəˈnɪmɪti]
Philosophical
German Gelassenheit: gelassen (let-be, composed, released) + heit. The person who has been left to themselves — who does not grasp...
evil / bad
[ˈiːvəl / bæd]
Philosophical
English has TWO primary words where German has one — and they arrive from completely different directions: "evil" from Proto-Germa...
failure
[ˈfeɪljə]
Everyday
From Old French faillir (to fail, to miss) → Latin fallere (to deceive, to miss the mark). German Misserfolg = Mis-Erfolg: the fol...
freedom / liberty
[ˈfriːdəm]
Political
English has both "freedom" (OE frēodōm, same Germanic root as German Freiheit) and "liberty" (Latin libertas, the condition of the...
far-left / far-right
[fɑː lɛft / fɑː raɪt]
Political
The left-right spectrum originates in the 1789 French National Assembly seating: those who supported the king sat to the right of...
grace
[ɡreɪs]
Ecclesiastical
From Greek charis (living transformative force) → Latin gratia → English grace. Paul used charis as a principle of reality: the wa...
gospel
[ˈɡɒspəl]
Ecclesiastical
Old English god-spell (good tidings, good news): a different path to the same concept as Greek euangélion, but arriving at the sam...
guilt / debt
[ɡɪlt / dɛt]
Everyday
German Schuld means both guilt and debt — financial and moral in a single word. English split them early: "guilt" from Old English...
good
[ɡʊd]
Philosophical
Old English god — from Proto-Germanic *gōdaz: fitting, suitable, belonging, appropriate. SAME root as German gut. Both languages i...
holiness / holy
[ˈhoʊlinəs]
Ecclesiastical
From Proto-Germanic *hailagaz (whole, uninjured, sound) — the SAME root as German heilig, and the same root as "whole" and "heal."...
happiness / luck / fortune
[ˈhæpɪnəs]
Philosophical
Old English and Middle English "hap" = fortune, chance, what falls (as in dice). Same root as German Glück (luck, fortune, happine...
happiness / joy / luck
[ˈhæpɪnəs / dʒɔɪ / lʌk]
Lost concepts
English has what German lacks: three separate words for three genuinely different experiences. "Happiness" (from hap = fortune): w...
Kingdom of Heaven
[ˈkɪŋdəm əv ˈhɛvən]
Ecclesiastical
From Greek basileía (dynamic ordering force, field of effective power) + ouranói (spheres, plural). "Kingdom" from Old English cyn...
kairos
[ˈkaɪrɒs]
Lost concepts
Greek καιρός (kairos): the right moment, the opportune time, the moment of ripeness. Distinct from χρόνος (chronos): sequential, m...
logos / word
[ˈloʊɡɒs]
Ecclesiastical
From Greek legein (to gather, select, connect): the relational structure that makes meaning possible before any word is spoken. He...
love
[lʌv]
Philosophical
Old English lufu — from Proto-Germanic *lubō, same root as German Liebe. Both Germanic traditions collapsed what Greek distinguish...
leadership
[ˈliːdəʃɪp]
Everyday
Old English laēdan (to guide, to cause to go) — same Proto-Germanic root as German führen! "Leadership" as an abstract quality-nou...
letting go / release
[ˈlɛtɪŋ ɡəʊ]
Everyday
German Loslassen: los + lassen = releasing the hold. An active release of what was held. English "let go" (OE laētan = to allow, t...
metanoia / repentance
[ˌmɛtəˈnɔɪə]
Ecclesiastical
From Greek meta (beyond) + nous (mind, perceiving): a transformation of consciousness — inner re-orientation, not self-punishment....
meaning / sense
[ˈmiːnɪŋ]
Philosophical
German Sinn carries four dimensions at once: direction, sense/perception, meaning, and mind. English "meaning" from the verb to me...
motivation
[ˌmoʊtɪˈveɪʃən]
Everyday
From Latin movere (to move): motivation is what moves a person. Same root in both English and German — an international term. The...
penance / atonement
[ˈpɛnəns / əˈtoʊnmənt]
Ecclesiastical
English has two words where German had one: "penance" from Latin poenitentia (pain, regret) — punitive from the outset; "atonement...
profession / job
[prəˈfɛʃən]
Everyday
English has two primary words where German has one (Beruf = calling): "profession" from Latin profiteri (to declare publicly, to p...
performance / achievement
[pəˈfɔːməns]
Everyday
German Leistung from leisten (to fulfill, to accomplish, to stand for): leisten carries both "to perform a task" and "to stand beh...
potential
[pəˈtɛnʃəl]
Everyday
From Latin potentia (power, capacity, force): what has force, what is capable of acting. Present capacity — not absent future achi...
perception / awareness
[pəˈsɛpʃən]
Philosophical
German Wahrnehmung: Wahr-nehmung = truth-taking, taking in what is real. An active reception of what is actually present. English...
problem
[ˈprɒbləm]
Everyday
From Greek problema (pro-ballein: to throw before): what has been placed before you — a question thrown in your path. In Greek phi...
presence / awareness
[ˈprɛzəns / əˈweənəs]
Lost concepts
English has what German lacks — two distinct words for two distinct qualities: "presence" (Latin praesens = being before, being at...
resistance
[rɪˈzɪstəns]
Everyday
From Latin resistere (re-sistere: to stand back against, to hold one's position): same standing-metaphor as German Widerstand (wid...
radical
[ˈrædɪkəl]
Philosophical
From Latin radix (root): going to the root, addressing what is foundational. Same root in English and German. The compression: rad...
sick / ill
[sɪk / ɪl]
Everyday
English has three primary words where German has one: "sick" from Old English séoc (troubled, afflicted — originally emotional as...
sin
[sɪn]
Ecclesiastical
From Old English synn, Proto-Germanic *sundijō (separation, being apart): a missed aim, a correctable deviation — not an inherited...
soul
[soʊl]
Ecclesiastical
From Old English sāwol, Proto-Germanic *saiwala — the same root as German Seele. Both underwent the same four-way collapse: nephes...
spirituality
[ˌspɪrɪtʃuˈælɪti]
Everyday
From Latin spiritus (breath, breathing, wind, the animating force): the quality of being alive to what animates. In English, "spir...
source / spring / origin
[sɔːs]
Philosophical
Latin surgere (to rise, to spring up) → Old French sourse → English source: the place where something rises to the surface. German...
success
[səkˈsɛs]
Everyday
From Latin successus — what follows after, a coming-after. German Erfolg: Er-folg — that which follows (if conditions are right)....
significance / meaning
[sɪɡˈnɪfɪkəns]
Philosophical
German Bedeutung: be-deuten = to point toward (deuten = to interpret, to point). Something has meaning when it points beyond itsel...
solution
[səˈluːʃən]
Everyday
From Latin solutio (a loosening, a dissolving) from solvere (to loosen, to untie, to dissolve): same root as German Lösung (from l...
stillness / silence
[ˈstɪlnəs]
Philosophical
Old English stille (motionless, calm, quiet) — same Proto-Germanic root as German still. "Silence" from Latin silere (to be silent...
truth
[truːθ]
Philosophical
Old English trēowth — from Proto-Germanic *treuwaz (faithful, steadfast, trustworthy). German Wahrheit — from wahr (perceivable, r...
trust
[trʌst]
Everyday
From Old Norse traust (help, confidence, protection): same Proto-Germanic root as German Vertrauen — both from *treuwaz (faithful,...
tao / the way
[taʊ]
Lost concepts
道 (dào): the way, the path, the underlying principle of reality. Laozi: 道可道，非常道 — "The Tao that can be spoken is not the e...
Ausblick
Was noch kommt —
und wann es möglich wird
Dieses Lexikon wächst nicht nach Plan, sondern nach Resonanz. Jede Funktion hat einen Zeitpunkt — eine Bedingung, die erfüllt sein muss, damit sie sinnvoll entsteht.
Annotator
Du gibst beliebigen Text ein — das System markiert alle Begriffe aus diesem Lexikon und zeigt dir die Wirkmechanik dahinter. Für Lektüre, Redaktion, Analyse.
Wann?
Wenn die deutsche Sprachverarbeitung (Lemmatisierung) stabil genug integriert ist, um Flexionsformen zuverlässig zu erkennen.
Offene Datenschnittstelle
Alle Einträge als strukturiertes JSON oder CSV — für Bildungsprojekte, Redaktionen und Tools, die dieses Vokabular weiterverarbeiten wollen.
Wann?
Wenn Redaktionen, Bildungsträger oder Entwickler konkret anfragen. Die Schnittstelle steht bereit — die Nachfrage entscheidet, wann sie öffentlich gemacht wird.
Dissens & Alternativlesarten
Jeder Eintrag erhält einen Slot für andere Lesarten, Quellenangaben und strukturierte Einwände — damit dieses Lexikon nicht selbst dogmatisch wird.
Wann?
Wenn Menschen aktiv mitschreiben — wenn das Lexikon von einer Stimme zu einem Gespräch wird.
Mehrsprachigkeit
Dieselben Einträge auf Englisch, Französisch, möglicherweise weiteren Sprachen — für die Begriffe, bei denen die Verschiebung sprachübergreifend gilt.
Wann?
Wenn Übersetzer da sind, die nicht nur das Wort, sondern die Verschiebung in der Zielsprache kennen.
Was du hier vermisst oder was du beitragen willst — melde dich. Dieses Lexikon ist nicht fertig. Es ist ein laufender Prozess.