Zwerchfell

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German

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Etymology

zwerch +‎ Fell, where zwerch is an Upper German variant of quer (“crosswise”) preserved only in a few compounds, and Fell is used in the older sense of “hide” extended to a membrane.

The sense “seat of human emotion” was acquired as a calque of Ancient Greek φρήν (phrḗn).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): ,
  • Hyphenation: Zwerch‧fell
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

Zwerchfell n (strong, genitive Zwerchfells, plural Zwerchfelle)

  1. (anatomy) diaphragm
  2. (anatomy) midriff
  3. (figurative, literary) the seat of human emotion, the heart
  4. (in idioms) the organ involved in laughter
    Er hat mein Zwerchfell erschüttert
    He made me laugh
    (literally, “He shook my diaphragm”)

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Idioms

Further reading

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