Weib
Appearance
German
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle High German wīp, from Old High German wīb, from Proto-West Germanic *wīb. Cognate with English wife.
Pronunciation
[edit]- IPA(key): /vaɪ̯p/, [väɪ̯p], [ʋäɪ̯p]
Audio (Austria): (file) Audio: (file) - Rhymes: -aɪ̯p
- Homophone: Vibe
Noun
[edit]Weib n (strong, genitive Weibes or Weibs, plural Weiber, diminutive Weibchen n or Weiblein n)
- (now often derogatory) woman, broad
- (now archaic) woman, wife
- So sprach er [...]: „Weib, meine letzte Stunde ist da; alle Schätze, so ich allein besaß, sind dein und deiner Tochter.“
- So he said [...]: "Wife, my last hour is here; all the treasures that I possessed of myself are yours and your daughter's."
- (Emanuel Schikaneder, Die Zauberflöte (libretto), act II, scene 8.)
Usage notes
[edit]- Weib cannot be a neutral term for “woman” in contemporary German (for that see Frau). Nonetheless, it is still rather a current word and may be more or less pejorative depending on context. It is most often heard among men, notably in the plural, in which case it has a macho ring to it, without being particularly abusive: Du weißt ja, wie die Weiber sind... (“Well, you know how women are...”) Perhaps comparable to the use of broad in American English. Women may also use it among each other in a chummy tone: Wir Weiber müssen ja zusammenhalten. (“We girls need to stick together.”) Otherwise it is disrespectful and often combined with adjectives for stronger vilification, e.g. Dummes Weib! (“Stupid hag!”)
- In older German (well into the 19th century), Weib was a normal word for a woman, usually one of the “common people”, or someone's wife. This more neutral sense is still retained in many derived terms, particularly weiblich (“female”).
Declension
[edit]Declension of Weib [neuter, strong]
Derived terms
[edit]Derived terms
See also
[edit]Further reading
[edit]Hunsrik
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]Weib n (plural Weiver)
Further reading
[edit]Pennsylvania German
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Compare German Weib, Dutch wijf, English wife.
Noun
[edit]Weib n (plural Weiwer)
Categories:
- German terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- German terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- 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 1-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:German/aɪ̯p
- Rhymes:German/aɪ̯p/1 syllable
- German terms with homophones
- German lemmas
- German nouns
- German neuter nouns
- German derogatory terms
- German terms with archaic senses
- German terms with quotations
- de:Female people
- Hunsrik 1-syllable words
- Hunsrik terms with IPA pronunciation
- Hunsrik lemmas
- Hunsrik nouns
- Hunsrik neuter nouns
- Pennsylvania German lemmas
- Pennsylvania German nouns
- Pennsylvania German neuter nouns