Gift

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See also: gift and GIFT

German

FWOTD – 25 December 2012

Etymology

From Middle High German gift f (“gift, present”), Old High German gift f (“gift”), from Proto-West Germanic *gifti, from Proto-Germanic *giftiz, which is a derivation of *gebaną (“to give”). Cognate with English gift.

The word has been used as a euphemism for "poison" since Old High German, a semantic loan from Late Latin dosis (“dose”), from Ancient Greek δόσις (dósis, “gift; dose of medicine”). The original meaning "gift" has disappeared in contemporary Standard German, but remains in some compounds (see Mitgift). Compare also Dutch gift (“gift”) alongside gif (“poison”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɡɪft/
  • Rhymes: -ɪft
  • Audio(file)

Noun

Gift n (strong, genitive Giftes or Gifts, plural Gifte)

  1. poison; toxin; venom
    • 2010, Der Spiegel‎, number 31/2010, page 49:
      Der Mann ist Toxikologe, ein Experte für Gift. Er arbeitet für ein Pharma-Unternehmen.
      The man is a toxicologist, an expert on poison. He works for a pharmaceutical business.

Usage notes

  • While the word is neuter in contemporary German, it may also occasionally be masculine in older texts.
  • Note that Gift is a false friend and does not mean "gift". The general word for "gift" is Geschenk.

Declension

Declension of Gift
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative ein das Gift die Gifte
genitive eines des Giftes, Gifts der Gifte
dative einem dem Gift, Gifte1 den Giften
accusative ein das Gift die Gifte

1Now rare, see notes.

Derived terms

Noun

Gift f (genitive Gift, plural Giften)

  1. (obsolete) gift; something given
    Synonym: Gabe

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Danish: gift (“poison”)
  • Saterland Frisian: Gift

References

  1. ^ Friedrich Kluge (1989) “Gift”, 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

  • “Gift” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • “Gift” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • Gift on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia de
  • “Gift” in Duden online
  • “Gift” in Duden online

Hunsrik

Etymology

From Middle High German and Old High German gift, from Proto-West Germanic *gifti, from Proto-Germanic *giftiz.

Pronunciation

Noun

Gift n (plural Gifte)

  1. poison
    Sie hod Gift genomm.
    She took poison.
    Bass uff, das is Gift.
    Beware, this is poison.

Further reading

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

From Middle High German and Old High German gift, from Proto-West Germanic *gifti, from Proto-Germanic *giftiz. Compare German Gift, Dutch gif.

Noun

Gift n

  1. poison
  2. poison ivy, ivy poisoning
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