adjective

rechtschaffen

righteous

Definition & meaning

The word rechtschaffen is primarily an adjective used to describe a person's character or behavior. It translates to "upright," "honest," "virtuous," or "righteous." A person who is rechtschaffen lives according to high moral standards, follows the law, and is generally seen as decent and trustworthy.

In a secondary, more colloquial or slightly dated sense, it can be used as an adverb to mean "thoroughly," "properly," or "very." For example, someone might be "rechtschaffen müde," meaning they are "properly tired" or exhausted after hard work.

Grammar & Word origin

The word is an adjective that can also function as an adverb.

Etymologically, it is a compound of two German parts:

Recht, which means "right," "law," or "justice."
schaffen, which in this historical context means "to shape," "to create," or "to behave."

Historically, the word developed from the Middle High German "rehtschaffen," which literally meant "shaped or formed according to what is right." It described something that was made correctly or a person whose character was formed according to moral and legal rules.