Schmand

• Schmant (rare)

Borrowed from Middle Low German smand.[1] There are two theories as to the origin of the Middle Low German word:

• Duden and some other authorities think it derives from Proto-West Germanic *smanþī (“smooth, soft”)[1][2] and is thus cognate to English smooth.
• Jacob Grimm and Václav Machek think it derives from Slavic (whence also Schmetten and English smetana). See смета́на (smetána) for more.

• IPA^(key): /ʃmant/

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• Homophone: Schmant
• Rhymes: -ant

Schmand m (strong, genitive Schmandes or Schmands, no plural)

1. (especially West-Central German, North-East German) thick, fermented (soured) cream; smetana, sour cream (with a high fat content)
   • 1677, Johanne Hiskia Cardilucio, Neuaufgerichtete Stadt- und Land-Apotheke / Diæt-Büchlein oder Speise-Tranck- und Lebens-Ordnung, chapter XIV, Eigenſchafft deß Milchraams, page 926:

     Welchergestalt ſich die beſte Subſtanß aus der Milch oben auf begibt in einen feiſten Raam oder Schmant / welcher ferner durch ſtarcke Bewegung oder Kernen ſich ſcheidet in Butter und Buttermilch / […]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (rare, chiefly West-Central German) Milk skin, lactoderm (a sticky film of coagulated proteins, namely casein, that forms on the surface of heated milk just before reaching the boiling point)
3. (East-Central German) mud, sludge, slush

   Synonyms: Schlamm, Matsch, Modder

• The traditional, although less common spelling is Schmant.
• The spelling Schmand has been an optional spelling since 2011.

• “Schmand” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.