sein

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Noun

sein (plural seins)

1. Archaic spelling of seine.

Anagrams

• EINs, NIEs, Nies, SINE, sien, sine, snie

Basque

Etymology

From Proto-Basque *seni.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

sein anim

1. child

Declension

Synonyms

• haur
• ume

Further reading

• "sein" in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia , euskaltzaindia.eus
• “sein” in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia , euskaltzaindia.eus

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛi̯n/

• sein (NL)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sein
• Rhymes: -ɛi̯n

Etymology 1

From Old French seigne, a northern variant of signe, from Latin signum. Doublet of zegen.

Noun

sein n (plural seinen, diminutive seintje n)

1. signal

   Synonym: signaal

Derived terms

• noodsein

Related terms

• seinen

Descendants

• → Indonesian: sein

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

sein

1. inflection of seinen:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. imperative

References

Anagrams

• Ines, nies

Estonian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *saina, borrowed from a Baltic language, compare Latvian siena. Finnish seinä is of the same origin.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈsei̯n/

Noun

sein (genitive seina, partitive seina)

1. wall

Declension

Finnish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsei̯n/,
• Rhymes: -ein
• Syllabification^(key): sein

Noun

sein

1. inflection of sei:
   1. genitive singular
   2. instructive plural

Noun

sein

1. instructive plural of see

Anagrams

• -isen, ensi, ensi-, ines, sine

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French sein, inherited from Latin sinus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sinos. Doublet of sinus. Compare Italian seno, Romanian sân, Romansch sain, Portuguese seio, Spanish seno.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛ̃/

• au sein

  (file)

• Homophones: sain, sains, saint, saints, seing, seings, seins

Noun

sein m (plural seins)

1. (anatomy) breast (the chest)

   sur votre jeune sein laissez rouler ma tête ― let my head roll on your young breast

2. (anatomy) breast

   Elle a des gros seins ― she has big breasts

3. (literary) womb

   elle a porté cet enfant dans son sein ― she carried this child in her womb

4. bosom

   au sein de la famille ― in the bosom of the family

   le sein du Père ― the bosom of the Father

Synonyms

• (breast): poitrine, (Quebec, slang) boule, (slang) nichon, nibard, nib, (informal) tété, lolo, néné, robert, (France, informal) gougoutte

Derived terms

• au sein de
• donner le sein

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• Inès, nies, niés, sien

German

German Wikipedia has an article on:

sein

Wikipedia ^de

Alternative forms

• seyn (obsolete)
• syn (obsolete) (frühneuhochdeutsch, for example used by the following authors: Sebastian Brant, Das Narrenschiff, 1494; Jacob Ruff, Adam und Heva)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zaɪ̯n/ (prescriptive standard)
• IPA^(key): /saɛ̯n/ (Austria)

• (file)

• (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪ̯n
• Homophone: seinen (according to a common pronunciation of this form)

Etymology 1

Inherited from Middle High German sîn, from Old High German sīn (“to be”) (suppleted with Proto-Germanic *wesaną (“to be”) and *beuną (“to be, exist, become”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be, exist”). Cognate with Dutch zijn (“to be”), Low German sien. More at sooth.

Verb

sein (irregular, third-person singular present ist, past tense war, past participle gewesen, past subjunctive wäre, auxiliary sein)

1. (copulative, with a predicate adjective or predicate nominative) to be

   Das ist schön. ― That is beautiful.

   Das ist ein Auto. ― That is a car.

2. (impersonal, with a dative object and certain adjectives) to feel, (to experience a condition)

   Usage: In this sense sein is always conjugated in the third person singular and takes a dative noun. The impersonal subject es may be present, but is often taken as implied. For example: "Mir ist warm," "Mir ist es warm," and "Es ist mir warm," may all be translated as "I'm warm," or literally as "(To) me (it) is warm." See Usage notes for the respective adjectives.

   Ist dir kalt? ― Are you cold?

   Mir ist schlecht. ― I'm sick.

   Dem Mann ist schwindelig. ― The man feels dizzy.

   Den Kindern ist langweilig. ― The children are bored.

3. (impersonal, with a dative object and nach or danach, sometimes with zumute) to feel like, to be in the mood for

   Usage: As in the previous sense sein takes a dative noun and is always conjugated according to the impersonal subject es, although it is usually omitted.

   Uns ist nach einem Film zumute. ― We feel like watching a movie.

   Mir ist nicht danach. ― I don't feel like it.

4. (auxiliary) forms the present perfect and past perfect tenses of certain intransitive verbs

   Er ist alt geworden. ― He has become old.

5. (intransitive) to exist; there to be; to be alive

   Was nicht ist, kann noch werden. (a common proverb)

   That which does not exist now, may come into existence.

   Wenn ich nicht mehr bin, erbst du das Haus.

   When I am no more, you'll inherit the house.

6. (intransitive, colloquial) to have the next turn (in a game, in a queue, etc.)

   Du bist. ― It’s your turn.

   Du bist nach mir. ― Your turn is after mine.

7. (intransitive, childish) to be "it"; to be the tagger in a game of tag

   Du bist! ― You're it!

   Ich bin nicht mehr. ― I'm not it anymore.

Conjugation

Alternative forms:

• Past participle: gewest (obsolete; poetical)
• Second-person plural preterite indicative: waret (older; poetical)

The subjunctive I (first and third person) and indicative (first person only) forms are also used as imperatives.

• Seien wir mal ehrlich./Sind wir mal ehrlich. ― Let’s be honest.
• (second-person formal) Seien Sie mal ehrlich. ― Be honest!

Derived terms

• an sein
• auf sein
• aus sein
• da sein
• weg sein
• zu sein
• Dasein n
• Glücklichsein n

Etymology 2

From Middle High German sein, sīn, from Old High German sīn, from Proto-West Germanic *sīn, from Proto-Germanic *sīnaz (“his own, her own, its own, their own”) (a reflexive possessive), from genitive of Proto-Indo-European *swé with denominative suffix Proto-Indo-European *-nós, equivalent to the genitive form of *se-.

Cognate with Low German sien (“his, its”), Dutch zijn (“his, its”), Danish sin (“his, her, its, their”), Old English sīn (“his, its”).

Determiner

sein

1. his

   Daniel schickt seiner Schwester eine SMS.

   Daniel is sending a text to his sister.

   Der Kater spielt oft mit seinen Spielsachen.

   The cat often plays with his toys.

2. its (agreeing with a masculine or neuter noun)

   der Mond und sein Licht

   the moon and its light

   das Schaf und seine Lämmer

   the sheep and its lambs

   1. (informal) Used to express an approximate number, often with so.

      Der kostet so seine zweihundert Euro.

      That one costs around two hundred euros.

3. one's

   Man muss seinem Herzen folgen.

   One must follow one’s heart.

Usage notes

When used as a pronoun, the nominative masculine takes the form seiner, and the nominative/accusative neuter takes the form seines or seins.

• mein Vater und seiner ― my father and his
• mein Kind und sein(e)s ― my child and his

Declension

Nominatives of the possessive determiners:

Pronoun

sein

1. (archaic) genitive of er
2. (archaic) genitive of es

Further reading

• “sein” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “sein” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “sein” in Duden online
• “sein” in OpenThesaurus.de

Anagrams

• eins

Gothic

Romanization

sein

1. Romanization of 𐍃𐌴𐌹𐌽

Hunsrik

Etymology

From Middle High German sein, sīn, from Old High German sīn, from Proto-West Germanic *sīn (“his”). Cognate with German sein.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /saɪ̯n/

Determiner

sein

1. his
2. its (agreeing with a neuter or masculine noun)

Inflection

¹Form used when the plural of the noun is the same as the singular

Further reading

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch sein (“signal”), from Old French seigne, a northern variant of signe, from Latin signum. Doublet of sinyal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /seɪ̯n/
• Hyphenation: sé‧in

Noun

sein

1. signal

   Synonyms: tanda, isyarat

2. short for lampu sein (“indicator, turn signal”).

Alternative forms

• sen

Further reading

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

Middle English

Verb

sein

1. Alternative form of seien

Middle Irish

Determiner

sein

1. Alternative form of sin (“that”)

Pronoun

sein

1. Alternative form of sin (“that”)

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse seinn.

Adjective

sein (neuter singular seint, definite singular and plural seine, comparative seinere, indefinite superlative seinest, definite superlative seineste)

1. alternative form of sen

References

• “sein” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Anagrams

• isen, isne, neis, nise, -isen, si-en, sine, snei

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse seinn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛɪːn/

Adjective

sein (neuter seint, definite singular and plural seine, comparative seinare, indefinite superlative seinast, definite superlative seinaste)

1. slow
2. late (arriving after expected time)
3. late (near the end of a period of time)

References

• “sein” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Anagrams

• eins, isen, isne, neis, nesi, nise, sein, seni, si-en, sine, Sine

Old French

Etymology

From Latin sinus.

Noun

sein oblique singular, m (oblique plural seinz, nominative singular seinz, nominative plural sein)

1. breast (anatomy)

Old Swedish

Verb

sein

1. first-person plural present subjunctive of vara

Romansch

Alternative forms

• sain (Rumantsch Grischun)
• sagn (Sutsilvan, Surmiran)

Etymology

From Latin sinus (compare French sein, Italian seno, Romanian sân, Spanish seno).

Noun

sein m

1. (Sursilvan, anatomy) breast (of a woman)

Related terms

• (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Surmiran) pèz
• (Sutsilvan) péz
• (Puter, Vallader) pet

Veps

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *saina. Related to Finnish seinä.

Noun

sein

1. wall

Declension

West Frisian

Etymology

From Dutch sein (“signal”), from Old French seigne, a northern variant of signe.

Pronunciation

• (Clay) IPA^(key): /sai̯n/
• (Wood) IPA^(key): /sɛi̯n/

Noun

sein n (plural seinen, diminutive seintsje)

1. signal

Further reading

• “sein (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011