Birne

German

Etymology

From Middle High German bire, bir, from Old High German bira, pira, from Vulgar Latin pira, reanalysis of the plural of Latin pirum. Early Modern German birn is from the Middle High German plural and dative/genitive singular, whence a double plural birnen was formed. The contemporary Birne is a new backformation from this plural (or perhaps a merger of it with the older, still dialectal form bire). Thus, between Latin and modern German, the word was reformed on the basis of the plural three times.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈbɪrnə/, [ˈbɪʁnə], [ˈbɪɐ̯nə]
  • Audio (Austria)(file)
  • Audio(file)

Noun

Birne f (genitive Birne, plural Birnen, diminutive Birnchen n)

  1. pear
  2. lightbulb
  3. (colloquial) head, bonce, noggin

Declension
Declension of Birne
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative eine die Birne die Birnen
genitive einer der Birne der Birnen
dative einer der Birne den Birnen
accusative eine die Birne die Birnen

Derived terms
Terms derived from Birne

Descendants
  • Birnenkompott
  • Birnenmus
  • Birnensaft
  • Birnensorte
  • Birnenschnaps
  • Grundbirne

Further reading
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