fanden
See also: Fanden and fänden
Danish
Etymology
From Old Danish fanden, fænden, probably borrowed from Old Frisian fandiand, a present participle of fandia (“to tempt”), from Proto-Germanic *fandōną (“to find out”), cognate with Old English fandian (“to try, tempt”), German fahnden (“to search”).
Late Old Norse fendinn, Norwegian faen, and Swedish fan are also borrowed, probably via Old Danish, from Frisian.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈfanən], (as an adverb also) IPA(key): [ˈfæː(æ)n]
Noun
fanden c
- (Christianity) devil, Satan
- devil (a mean person)
Inflection
Declension of fanden
gender | Singular | |
|---|---|---|
| indefinite | definite | |
| nominative | fanden | fanden |
| genitive | fandens | fandens |
Adverb
fanden
- (vulgar) the hell, the devil (used with an interrogative or relative adverb)
- Hvordan fanden gjorde du det?
- How the hell did you do that?
- Har du fået talt med Christoffer, eller hvad fanden det nu var, han hed?
- Have you gotten around to speaking with Christoffer, or whatever the fuck his name was?
Synonyms
- helvede
German
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈfandn̩/, /ˈfandən/
Audio (file)
Verb
fanden
- first/third-person plural preterite of finden
Norwegian Nynorsk
Alternative forms
- faen
- fan (used in juxtapositions)
Etymology
Likely borrowed from Frisian fannen, fannjen, fännen (“tempter”). Possibly through Danish.
Proper noun
fanden m
- (Christianity) devil
- Synonym: Satan
Derived terms
- (genitive) fandens
- (idiom) fanden og hans oldemor
Interjection
fanden
- used as an expletive to express displeasure
References
- “fanden” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
- Cf. Norwegian Bokmål “fanden” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).