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Birne. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
Birne, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
Birne in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
Birne you have here. The definition of the word
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German
Etymology
From Middle High German bire, bir, from Old High German bira, pira, from Vulgar Latin pira, reanalysis of the plural of Latin pirum. Early Modern German birn is from the Middle High German plural and dative/genitive singular, whence a double plural birnen was formed. The contemporary Birne is a new backformation from this plural (perhaps influenced also by the older, still dialectal form bire). Thus, between Latin and modern German, the word was reformed on the basis of the plural three times. Cognate with Alemannic German Bire.
Pronunciation
Noun
Birne f (genitive Birne, plural Birnen, diminutive Birnchen n)
- pear
- lightbulb
- (colloquial) head, bonce, noggin
Declension
Derived terms
Descendants
Further reading
- “Birne” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “Birne” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
- “Birne” in Duden online
- Birne on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia de