Buchstabe

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word Buchstabe. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word Buchstabe, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say Buchstabe in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word Buchstabe you have here. The definition of the word Buchstabe will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofBuchstabe, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

German

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle High German buochstabe, from Old High German *buohstabo (“letter, writing”) (attested only as Old High German buohstab; > German Buchstab), from Proto-West Germanic *bōkstabō, from Proto-Germanic *bōkstabô, a variant of *bōkstabaz. Compare English bookstaff, bookstave.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbuːxʃtaːbə/
  • Audio(file)

Noun

Buchstabe m (weak, genitive Buchstabens or (less common) Buchstaben, plural Buchstaben)

  1. letter (of the alphabet)
    • 1931, Gebhard Mehring, Schrift und Schrifttum, Silberburg-Verlag, page 21:
      Das römische Zahlensystem […] besteht aus 7 Buchstaben, die zur Bezeichnung von Zahlenwerten verwendet werden: M D C L X V I
      The Roman numeral system consists of 7 letters, which are used for the representation of numerical values: M D C L X V I
    • 1795, Wilhelm Friedrich Hezel, Ausführliche Griechische Sprachlehre nebst Paradigmen der Griechischen Deklinationen und Konjugationen in 35 Tabellen, Weißenfels & Leipzig, p.14
      II. Konsonanten — sind die übrigen siebenzehn Buchstaben des Alphabets. Man theilt sie
      A. in Ansehung der Sprachorganen, die an ihrer Bildung den meisten Antheil haben, in
      1) Lippenbuchstaben (labiales): [...]
      2) Gaumenbuchstaben (palatinas): [...]
      3) Zungenbuchstaben (linguales): [...]
      4) Zahnbuchstaben (dentales): [...]
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  2. (law) letter (a division unit of a piece of law marked by letters)

Usage notes

Buchstabe usually has the genitive singular (des) Buchstabens (cf. Name). The weak form (des) Buchstaben does also exist.

Declension

Declension of Buchstabe
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative ein der Buchstabe die Buchstaben
genitive eines des Buchstabens, Buchstaben1 der Buchstaben
dative einem dem Buchstaben den Buchstaben
accusative einen den Buchstaben die Buchstaben

1Less common.

Derived terms

Related terms

See also

References

  1. ^ Friedrich Kluge (1989) “Buchstabe”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the German Language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN

Further reading

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia