Scheit
German
Etymology
From Middle High German schīt, Old High German scīt (“log of wood”). Cognate with West Frisian skīd, Old Norse skíð (“plank; billet; ski”), Old English sċīde, English shide, Ancient Greek σχίζα (skhíza, “splinter”), Latvian skaida (“chip”), Lithuanian skëdrà.[1] From Proto-Germanic *skīdą.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʃaɪ̯t/
Audio (file) - Homophone: scheid
Noun
Scheit (originally) n or (now also) m (strong, genitive Scheits or Scheites, plural Scheite or (alternatively in southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland) Scheiter)
- log, billet, stick (of firewood)
Usage notes
- Most often used in the pleonastic compound Holzscheit.
- Originally neuter, but the masculine is now a widely attestable variant.
Declension
Declension of Scheit [neuter // masculine, strong]
| singular | plural | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| indef. | def. | noun | def. | noun | |
| nominative | ein | das, der | Scheit | die | Scheite, Scheiter2 |
| genitive | eines | des | Scheits, Scheites | der | Scheite, Scheiter2 |
| dative | einem | dem | Scheit, Scheite1 | den | Scheiten, Scheitern2 |
| accusative | ein, einen | das, den | Scheit | die | Scheite, Scheiter2 |
1Now uncommon, see notes.
2Alternatively in southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland.
References
- Friedrich Kluge (1883), “Scheit”, in , John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891
Further reading
- “Scheit” in Duden online