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 (perhaps influenced also by the older, still dialectal form bire). Thus, between Latin and modern German, the word was reformed on the basis of the plural three times. Cognate with Alemannic German Bire.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈbɪrnə/, [ˈbɪɐ̯nə], [ˈbɪʁnə], [ˈbɪrnə]
  • Audio (Austria)(file)
  • Audio(file)

Noun

Birne f (genitive Birne, plural Birnen, diminutive Birnchen n)

  1. pear
  2. lightbulb
  3. (colloquial) head, bonce, noggin

Declension
Declension of Birne [feminine]
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

Descendants
  • → Estonian: pirn
  • → Kashubian: birna

Further reading
  • “Birne” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • “Birne” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • “Birne” in Duden online
  • Birne on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia de
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