Birne
German
Etymology
From Middle High German bire, bir, from Old High German bira, pira, from Vulgar Latin pira, reanalysis of the plural of Latin pirum. Early Modern German birn is from the Middle High German plural and dative/genitive singular, whence a double plural birnen was formed. The contemporary Birne is a new backformation from this plural (or perhaps a merger of it with the older, still dialectal form bire). Thus, between Latin and modern German, the word was reformed on the basis of the plural three times.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbɪrnə/, [ˈbɪʁnə], [ˈbɪɐ̯nə]
Audio (Austria) (file) Audio (file)
Noun
Birne f (genitive Birne, plural Birnen, diminutive Birnchen n)
- pear
- lightbulb
- (colloquial) head, bonce, noggin
Declension
Declension of Birne
singular | plural | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
indef. | def. | noun | def. | noun | |
nominative | eine | die | Birne | die | Birnen |
genitive | einer | der | Birne | der | Birnen |
dative | einer | der | Birne | den | Birnen |
accusative | eine | die | Birne | die | Birnen |
Derived terms
Terms derived from Birne
- Abrissbirne
- Glühbirne
- Leuchtbirne
- Kochbirne
- Saftbirne
- Tafelbirne
- Williamsbirne
Descendants
- → Estonian: pirn
Related terms
- Birnenkompott
- Birnenmus
- Birnensaft
- Birnensorte
- Birnenschnaps
- Grundbirne
Further reading
- Birne in Duden online