Kerf

See also: kerf

German

Etymology

Borrowed from Low German Kerbe, from Middle Low German kerf, kerve, probably related to Old Saxon kervan (“to cut”).

Synonymous with Kerbtier (1815 by Lorenz Oken); cf. German Low German half (“half”) and Dutch half (“half”) with High German halb (“half”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /kɛrf/
Audio (file)

Noun

Kerf m (strong, genitive Kerfes or Kerfs, plural Kerfe)

(rare) insect
Synonyms: (obsolete) Insect; Insekt; Kerbtier

Declension

Declension of Kerf [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Kerf	die	Kerfe
genitive	eines	des	Kerfes, Kerfs	der	Kerfe
dative	einem	dem	Kerf, Kerfe¹	den	Kerfen
accusative	einen	den	Kerf	die	Kerfe

¹Now rare, see notes.

Further reading

“Kerf” in Duden online
“Kerf” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
Friedrich Kluge (1989) “Kerf”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the German Language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 366

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