1726: same and zusammen Sep 5, 2019

German is famous for compounding things together, but its word for 'together', itself a compound, is formed of elements that can no longer be parsed. The German 'zusammen' (together) comes from 'zu-' (to) and 'sammen' (together), and like English with '-gether' coming from 'gather', the parts can no longer be separated. 'Sammen' is still part of many other compounds though, like 'sammlung' (collection; exhibition) or 'sammeln' (to collect). This is related to the English word 'same', and formerly 'sammen' (together) in Middle English, as well as many other words across Indo-European languages, including 'homos'—like 'homo-'—in Greek.

Support Word Facts on patreon.com/wordfacts.