Wasser
English
Alemannic German
Etymology
From Middle High German waʒʒer, from Old High German waʒʒar. Cognate with German Wasser, Dutch and English water, Icelandic vatn.
Derived terms
References
- Wörterbuch der elsässischen Mundarten
- Rudolf Suter, Baseldeutsch-Grammatik (1976): s Wasser
Central Franconian
Alternative forms
- Waßer (native in most dialects; now archaic in many)
Etymology
From Middle High German wazzer, from Old High German wazzar. The use of -a- instead of the expected -ā- is influenced by standard German.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈʋasʌ/
Noun
Wasser n (plural Wasser, diminutive Wässerche)
- (many dialects) water
- 1990, “Dat Wasser vun Kölle”performed by Bläck Fööss:
- O leeve Jott, jevv uns Wasser,
Denn janz Kölle hät Doosch!
O leeve Jott, jevv uns Wasser
Un helf uns en der Nut!- O dear God, give us water,
For all of Cologne is thirsty!
O dear God, give us water
And help us in our misery!
- O dear God, give us water,
German
Etymology
From Middle High German wazzer, from Old High German wazzar, from Proto-West Germanic *watar, from Proto-Germanic *watōr, from Proto-Indo-European *wédōr, collective of *wódr̥.
Compare Low German Water, Dutch water, English water, Danish vand.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈva.sər/, [ˈva.sɐ], [ˈva.səʁ]
Audio (file) Audio (file) Audio (Bavarian) (file) - Hyphenation: Was‧ser
Noun
Wasser n (strong, genitive Wassers, plural Wasser or Wässer, diminutive Wässerchen n or Wässerlein n)
- water (H₂O)
- alcoholic beverage, similar to brandy, made from fermented fruit
- (colloquial) Clipping of Mineralwasser/Tafelwasser.
Usage notes
- Both plural forms are infrequent. Unchanged Wasser is used as a purely emphatic plural: die Wasser des Rheins – the waters of the Rhine. Wässer is used as an actual plural meaning different kinds of water (or brandy): teure und preiswerte Wässer – expensive and inexpensive [table] waters. However, Wässer is also used emphatically in some compound words such as Abwässer (“waste water”) and Schmutzwässer (“dirty water”).
Declension
Derived terms
- Abwasser (“wastewater; sewage”)
- Altwasser (“oxbow lake”)
- auch nur mit Wasser kochen
- Blut ist dicker als Wasser (“blood is thicker than water”)
- das Wasser reichen können (“to hold a candle”, literally “to hand the water”)
- Gewässer (“body of water, waterbody, water”)
- Hochwasser (“flood, flooding”)
- Kirschwasser (“kirsch, a clear brandy made from black cherries”)
- Meerwasser (“seawater”)
- Mineralwasser (“mineral water, carbonated water”)
- Salzwasser (“salt water”)
- Sprudelwasser (“fizzy water”)
- Süßwasser (“freshwater”)
- Trinkwasser (“drinking water”)
- Wasser predigen und Wein trinken (“to not practice what one preaches”, literally “to preach water and drink wine”)
- Wasserbecken
- Wasserbehälter
- Wasserbombe (“depth charge; water bomb, water balloon”, literally “water bomb”)
- Wasserdampf (“steam; water vapour”)
- Wassereis (“ice pop, popsicle, ice lolly; frozen water”, literally “water ice”)
- Wasserfall (“waterfall”)
- Wasserfarbe (“watercolour”)
- Wasserfläche
- Wasserflasche f (“water bottle”)
- Wasserfloh
- Wassergewebe
- Wassergüte
- Wasserhund (“water dog”)
- wässerig, wässrig (“watery”)
- Wasserkopf
- Wasserlauf
- Wassermann (“Aquarius, Aquarian”)
- Wasserminze
- Wassermühle (“water mill”)
- wässern (“to water”)
- Wasserpfeife (“water pipe”)
- Wasserralle (“water rail”)
- Wasserrutsche f (“Waterslide”)
- Wassersäule f (“water column”)
- Wasserscheide (“watershed”)
- Wasserski (“water skiing; water ski”)
- Wasserskorpion (“water scorpion”)
- Wasserspeier (“gargoyle, waterspout”)
- Wasserspinne (“water spider, diving bell spider”)
- Wasserstoff (“hydrogen”)
- Wasserstraße
- Wassertemperatur
- Wassertiefe
- Wasserverbrauch
- Wasserverlust
- Wasserwanze (“water bug”)
- Weihwasser
- Wildwasser (“white water”)
- Wurstwasser (“water in which sausages have been cooked and/or packaged”)
Further reading
- “Wasser” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “Wasser” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
- “Wasser” in Duden online
Wasser on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia de
Hunsrik
Alternative forms
- waser (Wiesemann spelling system)
Etymology
From Middle High German wazzer, from Old High German wazzar, from Proto-West Germanic *watar, from Proto-Germanic *watōr, from Proto-Indo-European *wédōr.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈvasɐ/
Declension
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Derived terms
- Mineralwasser
- Rehnwasser
- Salswasser
- Zitronewasser
Further reading
Pennsylvania German
Etymology
From Middle High German wazzer, from Old High German wazzar. Compare German Wasser, Dutch water, English water.
Rhine Franconian
Etymology
From Middle High German wazzer, from Old High German wazzar.
References
- Verse und Reime eines alten Pfälzers, in pfälzischer Mundart (1864): guts Wasser
Unserdeutsch
Etymology
From German Wasser, from Middle High German wazzer, from Old High German wazzar.
References
- Craig Volker, The Birth and Decline of Rabaul Creole German, in: 1991, Language and Linguistics in Melanesia, vol. 22, pp. 143ff., here p. 154:
- 3. Inclusive/exclusive 'we':
- (a) Uns bis neben Salz-wasser.
- we:IN are next.to salt water
- 'We're next to the ocean.'
Volga German
Etymology
From Middle High German wazzer, from Old High German wazzar.