Eltern

German

Alternative forms

Aeltern, Ältern, Elteren (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle High German eltern, from Old High German eltirōn, from Proto-Germanic *alþizô. Compare Dutch ouders, English elders.

The form is equivalent to a nominalised comparative of alt (“old”). The according spelling Ältern was common in Early Modern German, but later went out of fashion. Several sources claim that this was due to incomprehension of the etymology, but that seems implausible given its obviousness. An alternative explanation would be the desire to distinguish between Eltern (“parents”) and die Älteren (“older ones, elders”), which latter was commonly spelt Ältern.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈɛltərn/, [ˈʔɛl.tɐn]
audio (Germany) (file)
audio (Austria) (file)

Noun

Eltern pl (plural only)

parents

Usage notes

When a singular is required, the term Elternteil is used in everyday language. In certain fields such as psychology and genetics, however, the back-formed singular Elter n is also used.
When the word numeral “two” was still declined by gender (zween m, zwo f, zwei n), the masculine form was predominantly used, less often the neuter one.
- 1776, Andreas Gottlieb Masch, Ein Versuch über die symbolische Offenbarung Gottes in den verschiedenen Verfassungen seines Reiches, Halle: J.J. Gebauer, page 85:
  ... nicht von zween Eltern erzeuget, sondern von einem Weibe gebohren …
  Begotten not from two parents but one woman.
- 1778 February 2, Neuer Zeitungen von Gelehrten Sachen auf das Jahr MDCCLXXVIII. Erster Theil. No. X, Leipzig, page 77:
  … warum der Heiland der Welt blos von einem Weibe gebohren, und nicht von zween Eltern erzeugt worden sey.
  Why the saviour of the world would have been born from one woman and not two parents just.
- 1789, Leitfaden zur österreichischen Rechtskenntniß nach den josephinischen Gesetzen und neuesten Verfassungen. Zweiter Theil, Prag und Leipzig: Kaspar Widtmann, page 32:
  Je weiter man aufsteigt, sieht man einen jeden Stamm wieder in zween Stämme sich theilen *).
  *) Z. B. der Urgroßvater A hat zwey Eltern Vater und Mutter B. C. und so weiter.
  The further you go up, each branch can be seen to be separated into two branches again. *)
  )* For instance the great-grandfather A has two parents father and mother B. C. and so on.

Declension

Declension of Eltern [pl-only]

	plural
	def.	noun
nominative	die	Eltern
genitive	der	Eltern
dative	den	Eltern
accusative	die	Eltern