aber

aber

1. Superseded spelling of haber.

From Proto-Brythonic *aber.

aber m or f (plural aberioù)

1. ria, estuary, mouth of a river

• → French: aber

aber

1. present of aberiñ

• Henry, Victor (1900) “aber”, in Lexique étymologique des termes les plus usuels du breton moderne (Bibliothèque bretonne armoricaine; III) (in French), Rennes: J. Plihon et L. Hervé

Borrowed from Spanish a ver, short form of the phrase vamos a ver (“let's see”).

• IPA^(key): /ʔaˈbeɾ/
• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Hyphenation: a‧ber

abér (Badlit spelling ᜀᜊᜒᜇ᜔)

1. let me see; let's see

From Proto-Brythonic *aber.

IPA^(key): /ˈabɛr/

aber m (plural aberyow)

1. rivermouth

aber c

1. indefinite plural of abe

aber

1. present of abe

Borrowed from Breton aber.

• IPA^(key): /a.bɛʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

aber m (plural abers)

1. (geography) a ria, especially one in Brittany

• “aber”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

From Middle High German aber, aver, from Old High German aber, ābar, abur, aver, avur, afur, from Proto-Germanic *aferą (“behind”). Compare Bavarian owa (“but”), Luxembourgish awer (“but”), Saterland Frisian oaber (“but”), Middle Low German āver, German Low German aver (“but”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈaːbɐ/ (standard)
• IPA^(key): /ˈabɐ/ (colloquial; when unstressed by regular shortening, but also used when stressed)

• Audio:

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• Audio (Austria):

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aber (coordinating)

1. but; however; though

   Ich mag keine Orangen, aber ich mag Äpfel. ― I don't like oranges, but I like apples.

• Unlike most other conjunctions, aber doesn't need to be the first word of a clause and can thereby emphasize the preceding word(s): Ich bin dafür, er aber lehnt es ab. — “I’m in favour, but he has rejected it.” In such a construction, aber can be considered an adverb, though the usual interpretation is that it is still a conjunction.
• After a negative, sondern is used to express a contrast, while aber expresses a gradation or nuance. Compare:

Wir haben keine Pizza gekauft, sondern Zutaten, um eine selbst zu machen. ― We didn't buy a pizza but ingredients to make one ourselves.

Wir haben die Pizza nicht selbst gemacht, aber haben auch Zutaten gekauft, um sie zu verbessern. ― We didn't make the pizza ourselves but also bought ingredients to improve it.

• It's usually better or less dated English to not translate sondern with but:

Er ist nicht genial, sondern dumm. ― He isn’t brilliant; in fact he's stupid. / He isn’t brilliant, he's stupid.

Er ist nicht genial, aber ziemlich klug. ― He isn’t brilliant but quite intelligent.

• aber hallo
• aber, aber

aber

1. (obsolete, except in compounds) again
2. (qualifier) rather; quite; unusually; used with adjectives to express a surprising degree, whether this surprise be real or for effect

   Das ist aber teuer. ― That's rather expensive. ≈ That's more expensive than I would’ve thought.

   Du bist aber groß geworden! ― Look how tall you’ve become! (said to a child)

3. (conjunctive) nonetheless, nevertheless

   Die Wohnung ist zwar klein, ich würde sie aber gerne nehmen.

   The apartment is small, nevertheless I would like to take it.

• abermals
• abertausend

• “aber” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• Friedrich Kluge (1883) “aber”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891

From Javanese ꦲꦧꦼꦂ (aber), from Old Javanese abĕr (“to slow”).

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: abêr

aber

1. lost or run out of strength and superiority

• “aber” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

From Persian ابر (abr).

aber ?

1. cloud

• Arora, Aryaman (2020) “aber”, in Kholosi Dictionary‎

From German Aber (“objection”), a substantivization of German aber (“but, however, though”) (as in "no buts and no ifs"), from Middle High German aber, aver, from Old High German aber, abur, aver, avur, afur (“however, but”), either from Proto-Germanic *afar, *abar, *abur (“after, following”), from Proto-Indo-European *apo- (“away, from”), or from Proto-Germanic *aferą (“behind”), from pre-Germanic *h₂ép-erom, accusative/allative to an adjective *h₂ép-eros.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑːbər/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːbər
• Hyphenation: ab‧er

aber n (definite singular aberet, indefinite plural aber or abere, definite plural abera or aberne)

1. a problem, an obstacle, a difficulty

   Det er et aber med det.

   There is a problem with it.

   • 1908, Kristian F. Biller, Lys og Skygge:

     – Nei, virkelig, har De ikke spist. Det var et aber: vi kunde jo ha stukket indom en restaurant

     - No, really, you have not eaten. It was a difficulty: we could have stopped by a restaurant

   • 1927, Tidens Tegn:

     det er bare den aber at staten eier den

     it is only the catch that the state owns it

   • 1921, Jonas Lie, Samlede Digterverker VII, page 87:

     kunde være enkelte abere at notere

     could be individual difficulties to note

   • 1907, Alexander L. Kielland, Samlede værker I (Mindeutgave), page 78:

     [hun hadde] været forlovet – riktignok bare ni uger – men det var dog et lidet aber

     been engaged - admittedly only nine weeks - but it was still a suffering difficulty

   • 1879-1895, Knut Hamsun, Knut Hamsuns brev I, page 238:

     det har vel sine aber det ogsaa

     it probably has its difficulties too

   • 2010, Lars Saabye Christensen, Bernhard Hvals forsnakkelser:

     det eneste som måtte være et aber er at når jeg biter kjevene sammen og knusper, kjenner jeg bare de bløte gommene gli mot hverandre

     the only thing that may be a difficulty is that when I bite my jaws together and crush, I only feel the soft palates slide against each other

• hake (“catch”), ulempe (“disadvantage”), vanskelighet (“difficulty”), men (“damage, injury”)

• “aber” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “aber” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “aber” in Store norske leksikon

• bare

• aaber

From Old Norse apr (“sharp, hard, bad”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑ(ː)bər/

aber (Shetland)

1. sharp, keen.
2. clear, distinct.
3. sharp-sighted, observant, watchful.
4. eager
5. greedy

aber (Shetland)

1. to sharpen
2. to poke a fire in order to brighten it (often with up)

• aaberness
• aber heart cake
• aber knot

• “aber”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.
• Eagle, Andy, editor (2024), “aber”, in The Online Scots Dictionary‎

• hàber

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish خبر (haber), from Arabic خَبَر (ḵabar).

• IPA^(key): /ǎber/
• Hyphenation: a‧ber

àber m (Cyrillic spelling а̀бер)

1. (regional, Bosnia) news
2. (regional, Bosnia) message, information
3. (regional, Bosnia) sensation, feeling

Borrowed from German aber (“but”), turned into a noun (as in "no buts and no ifs").

aber n

1. a problem, an obstacle, a difficulty

The plural is the same, but definite forms do not apply.

• aber in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• aber in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• aber in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

• bare

Borrowed from Spanish a ver.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ʔaˈbeɾ/
• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Syllabification: a‧ber

abér (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜊᜒᜇ᜔)

1. let's see; let me see

   Synonyms: tingnan, patingin

2. okay; all right

• abre

aber m (Tifinagh spelling ⴰⴱⴻⵔ, plural abriwen, diminutive tabert)

1. Alternative spelling of abeř: eyelash

From Proto-Brythonic *aber, from Proto-Celtic *adberos.

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈabɛr/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈa(ː)bɛr/
• Rhymes: -abɛr

aber m or f (plural aberoedd or ebyr)

1. estuary, mouth of a river^[1][2]
2. confluence, joining of two or more rivers

   Synonym: cydlifiad

aber

1. Alternative form of åber