Knabe
German
editEtymology
editFrom Middle High German knabe, from Old High German knabo, chnabo, from Proto-West Germanic *knabō.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editKnabe m (weak, genitive Knaben, plural Knaben, diminutive Knäbchen n or Knäblein n or Knäbelein n)
- (dated, now literary, humorous or Southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland and US) knave, boy, lad
- 1782, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Erlkönig:
- Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem Arm
- He holdeth the boy tightly clasp'd in his arm
- Edgar Alfred Bowring, The Poems of Goethe Translated in the Original Metres
Usage notes
edit- Knabe used to be the most common term for “boy” until about 1930.[1] As the word was restricted to written style and had no basis in any regional dialects, it has since been replaced with more native Junge (throughout the language area) or Bube (alternatively in southern Germany and Austria).
- It still occurs in compounds such as Prügelknabe and Chorknabe.
Declension
editDeclension of Knabe [masculine, weak]
Derived terms
edit- Chorknabe m (“choirboy”)
- Musterknabe (“goody-goody”)
- Prügelknabe m (“whipping boy”)
Descendants
editReferences
edit- ^ Knabe, Junge at the Google Books Ngram Viewer.
Further reading
editCategories:
- German terms inherited from Middle High German
- German terms derived from Middle High German
- German terms inherited from Old High German
- German terms derived from Old High German
- German terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- German 2-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio links
- German lemmas
- German nouns
- German weak nouns
- German masculine nouns
- German dated terms
- German literary terms
- German humorous terms
- Southern German
- Austrian German
- Switzerland German
- American German
- German terms with quotations
- de:Children