Tonne

Tonne

See also: tonne, tonné, and tønne

German

Etymology

From Middle High German tunne, from Old High German tunna, from Latin tunna, probably from Gaulish.

A chiefly northern (i.e. Central German) word, later reinforced by Middle Low German tunne, tonne, from Old Saxon tunna. Cognate with Dutch ton, English tun, French tonne.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɔnə/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔnə

Noun

Tonne f (genitive Tonne, plural Tonnen, diminutive Tönnchen n)

1. barrel, vat, tun, drum
   1. for collecting waste or surplus, such as a bin, dumpster/skip, water butt
   2. for storing and transporting industrial materials
   3. (dated) for storing and transporting food and drink, e.g. beer, wine, cabbage, herrings

      Synonym: Fass

2. tonne, ton, metric ton
   • 2010, Der Spiegel, issue 25/2010, page 140:

     Mit seinen 30 Meter Länge und mitunter mehr als 150 Tonnen Gewicht übertrifft der Blauwal jedes andere Tier auf Erden.

     With its length of 30 meters and weight of sometimes more than 150 tons the blue whale surpasses every other animal on Earth.

3. (nautical) buoy

Declension

Declension of Tonne [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Tonne	die	Tonnen
genitive	einer	der	Tonne	der	Tonnen
dative	einer	der	Tonne	den	Tonnen
accusative	eine	die	Tonne	die	Tonnen

Derived terms

• Heringstonne
• Mülltonne
• Regentonne
• tonnenschwer
• für die Tonne

Descendants

• → Russian: то́нна (tónna)
  • → Mongolian: тонн (tonn)

Further reading

• “Tonne” in Duden online
• “Tonne” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache