Auskunft

Auskunft is a German noun (die Auskunft, plural Auskünfte) meaning information or an answer, and it also denotes the act of informing. It is used for information about a subject, or more rarely for a piece of information itself. It also denotes an information desk or service, such as an Auskunftsstelle.

As a verb, related forms are Auskunft geben/erteilen, meaning to provide information, and Auskunft erhalten, meaning to receive information.

In formal and administrative language, Auskunftsersuchen refers to a request for information; Auskunftspflicht denotes the duty to provide information; Auskunftsrecht denotes the right to information. Public authorities may be required to grant Auskunft under information law, such as the Informationsfreiheitsgesetz (IFG) at the federal level in Germany, with analogous state laws. Data protection rules may limit the disclosure of personal data.

Etymology broadly places Auskunft in the Germanic linguistic tradition, with a prefix suggesting disclosure or outward furnishing and a root linked to knowledge or information. The term has been in use since Middle High German and remains common in everyday language as well as in bureaucratic and legal contexts.