Wirrwarr

German

Etymology

15th-century shortening of Middle High German wirrewarren n, a reduplicative ablauting derivation (cf. Mischmasch) from werren (“to entangle, confuse”), from Old High German werran, from Proto-West Germanic *werran.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈvɪrvar/, [ˈvɪʁ.vaʁ], [ˈvɪɐ̯.va(ɐ̯)], [ˈʋ...ʋ...]
  • Audio(file)

Noun

Wirrwarr m or n (strong, genitive Wirrwarrs, no plural) or rarely Wirrwarr f (genitive Wirrwarr, no plural)

  1. confusion, commotion, chaos, jumble, muddle
    Synonyms: Chaos, Durcheinander, Kuddelmuddel, Unordnung, Gewirr, Verwirrung, Wirren

Usage notes
  • Wirrwarr is one of a small number of German nouns which can or historically could have all three genders; see the appendix. The masculine and neuter are common today; the feminine is rare.

Declension
Declension of Wirrwarr [sg-only, masculine // neuter // feminine, strong]
singular
indef. def. noun
nominative ein, eine der, das, die Wirrwarr
genitive eines, einer des, der Wirrwarrs, Wirrwarr
dative einem, einer dem, der Wirrwarr
accusative einen, ein, eine den, das, die Wirrwarr

Derived terms
  • Schreibwirrwarr

Further reading
  • “Wirrwarr” in Duden online
  • “Wirrwarr” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
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