Knabe
German
Etymology
From Middle High German knabe, from Old High German knabo, chnabo, from Proto-West Germanic *knabō.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈknaːbə/
Audio (file)
Noun
Knabe m (weak, genitive Knaben, plural Knaben, diminutive Knäbchen n or Knäblein n or Knäbelein n)
- (dated, now literary, humorous or Southern German, Austria and Switzerland) 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
- Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem Arm
- Edgar Alfred Bowring, The Poems of Goethe Translated in the Original Metres
- 1782, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, "Erlkönig"
Usage notes
- 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
Declension of Knabe [masculine, weak]
singular | plural | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
indef. | def. | noun | def. | noun | |
nominative | ein | der | Knabe | die | Knaben |
genitive | eines | des | Knaben | der | Knaben |
dative | einem | dem | Knaben | den | Knaben |
accusative | einen | den | Knaben | die | Knaben |
Derived terms
- Chorknabe m (“choirboy”)
- Musterknabe (“goody-goody”)
- Prügelknabe m (“whipping boy”)
Descendants
- → Esperanto: knabo
References
- Knabe, Junge at Google Ngram Viewer
Further reading
- “Knabe” in Duden online
- “Knabe” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache