19th century, from Yiddish שלימיל (shlimil). Further origin uncertain; see the Yiddish for more.
The rather odd spelling with -ih- follows the use of Adelbert von Chamisso in his well-known novella Peter Schlemihl (1813). Von Chamisso probably avoided Schlemiel because it could have suggested a trisyllabic pronunciation as in Gabriel (though he might have spelt *Schlemil).
Schlemihl m (strong, genitive Schlemihls, plural Schlemihle)
singular | plural | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
indef. | def. | noun | def. | noun | |
nominative | ein | der | Schlemihl | die | Schlemihle |
genitive | eines | des | Schlemihls | der | Schlemihle |
dative | einem | dem | Schlemihl | den | Schlemihlen |
accusative | einen | den | Schlemihl | die | Schlemihle |