Hamster
German
Etymology
From Middle High German hamster, from Old High German hamastra, hamustro, probably from Old East Slavic хомѣсторъ (xoměstorŭ), хомѣстаръ (xoměstarŭ). Further explained as a borrowing into Slavic from Iranian, compare Avestan 𐬵𐬀𐬨𐬀𐬉𐬯𐬙𐬀𐬭- (hamaēstar-, “who throws down (in this case: corn stalks), oppresses”).[1][2]Alternatively, a compound of (1) хомѣкъ (xoměkŭ, “hamster”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *kāmjas[3] and of (2) Baltic *staras,[4][5] but this would require irregular compound formation (*хомѣкосторъ would be expected, unless perhaps the compound was based on a word whose diminutive was хомѣкъ) and an irregular Proto-Slavic *x from Proto-Balto-Slavic *k.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈhamstɐ/
Audio (file)
Noun
Hamster m (strong, genitive Hamsters, plural Hamster)
- hamster
Declension
| singular | plural | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| indef. | def. | noun | def. | noun | |
| nominative | ein | der | Hamster | die | Hamster |
| genitive | eines | des | Hamsters | der | Hamster |
| dative | einem | dem | Hamster | den | Hamstern |
| accusative | einen | den | Hamster | die | Hamster |
Derived terms
- Goldhamster
- hamstern
Descendants
- → Catalan: hàmster
- → English: hamster, hampster
- → Japanese: ハムスター (hamusutā)
- → Korean: 햄스터 (haemseuteo)
- → Tagalog: hamster
- → Thai: แฮมสเตอร์ (hɛms-dtə̂ə)
- → Turkish: hamster
- → Danish: hamster
- → Dutch: hamster
- → Papiamentu: hamster
- → French: hamster
- → Luxembourgish: Hamster
- → Norwegian Bokmål: hamster
- → Norwegian Nynorsk: hamster
- → Portuguese: hamster
- → Romanian: hamster
- → Swedish: hamster
References
- Wolfgang Pfeifer, editor (1993), “Hamster”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen (in German), 2nd edition, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN
- https://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/vasmer/50350/%D1%85%D0%BE%D0%BC%D1%8F%D0%BA
- Fraenkel, Ernst (1955, 1962–1965) Litauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume I, Heidelberg-Göttingen: Carl Winter and Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, page 212
- Wolfgang Pfeifer, ed., Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, s.v. “Hamster” (Munich: Deutscher Taschenbucher Vertrag, 2005).
- C.T. Onions, ed., Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, s.v. “hamster” (Oxford: Oxford UP, 1996), 425.
Further reading
- “Hamster” in Duden online
- “Hamster” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
Luxembourgish
Etymology
From German Hamster.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈhamsteʀ/, [ˈhɑmstɐ]
Noun
Hamster m (plural Hamsteren)
- hamster