Concepts and Movements
Hygge
Respelled H(Y)OO-guh (rhymes loosely with boo-guh); the Wikipedia article also gives the Danish pronunciation as close to hy-kuh.
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Hygge is a Danish and Norwegian word for a cozy, contented mood of everyday togetherness, encompassing safety, equality, personal wholeness and unhurried social ease, typically enjoyed with food, drink and conversation among people one cares about, or alone. Danes often connect the practice to the country's cold, dark, wet climate, which encourages indoor togetherness for much of the year. The word entered international vocabulary in the 2010s largely through Meik Wiking's The Little Book of Hygge (2016); Collins English Dictionary named hygge runner-up word of the year in the UK in 2016.
Facts
OriginThe word first appears in Danish writing in the nineteenth century, derived from the Old Norse hyggja (to think) and hugr (soul, mind); some sources speculate a link to a sixteenth-century word for embrace instead, a derivation this atlas records as a genuinely open etymological question. 1 Sources
1. Hygge (Denmark.dk)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of DenmarkA Warm Atmosphere sectionQuote, A Warm Atmosphere section
Hygge is about taking time away from the daily rush to be together with people you care about - or even by yourself - to relax and enjoy life's quieter pleasures.
Hygge (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationUse sectionQuote, Use section
In both Danish and Norwegian, hygge refers to 'a form of everyday togetherness', 'a pleasant and highly valued everyday experience of safety, equality, personal wholeness and a spontaneous social flow'.
Hygge (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead sectionQuote, Lead section
Hygge; H(Y)OO-guh; Danish pronunciation approximately hy-kuh.
Hygge (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationOpen Questions: Does hygge derive from the Old Norse hyggja, meaning to think, or from a sixteenth-century word for embrace?View the Source Open Questions (1 open question)
Does hygge derive from the Old Norse hyggja, meaning to think, or from a sixteenth-century word for embrace?
The Wikipedia account of hygge's etymology states the word derives from the Old Norse hyggja, to think, and hugr, soul or mind, but in the same breath notes that some speculate it may instead derive from a 1560s word, hugge, meaning to embrace. The two derivations are not reconciled, and no source is given for the rival hugge theory.
What would resolve this A philological study tracing hygge's documented use through the earliest surviving Danish and Norwegian texts, rather than working backward from later dictionary etymologies.
Hygge (Wikipedia)
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