Buchstabe

German

Alternative forms

  • Buchstab (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle High German buochstabe, from Old High German *buohstabo (letter, writing), equivalent to Buch + Stab. From Proto-Germanic *bōkastabô, *bōkastabaz.[1] Compare English bookstaff, bookstave.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbuːxʃtaːbə/
  • (file)

Noun

Buchstabe m (genitive Buchstabens or Buchstaben, plural Buchstaben)

  1. letter (of the alphabet)
    • 1931, Gebhard Mehring, Schrift und Schrifttum, Silberburg-Verlag, page 21:
      Das römische Zahlensystem […] besteht aus 7 Buchstaben, die zur Bezeichnung von Zahlenwerten verwendet werden: M D C L X V I
      The Roman numeral system […] consists of 7 letters, which are used for the representation of numerical values: M D C L X V I
    • 1795, Wilhelm Friedrich Hezel, Ausführliche Griechische Sprachlehre nebst Paradigmen der Griechischen Deklinationen und Konjugationen in 35 Tabellen, Weißenfels & Leipzig, p.14
      II. Konsonanten — sind die übrigen siebenzehn Buchstaben des Alphabets. Man theilt sie
      A. in Ansehung der Sprachorganen, die an ihrer Bildung den meisten Antheil haben, in
      1) Lippenbuchstaben (labiales): [...]
      2) Gaumenbuchstaben (palatinas): [...]
      3) Zungenbuchstaben (linguales): [...]
      4) Zahnbuchstaben (dentales): [...]
  2. (law) letter (a division unit of a piece of law marked by letters)

Usage notes

Buchstabe usually has the genitive singular (des) Buchstabens (cf. Name). The weak form (des) Buchstaben does also exist, however.

Declension

Mixed
Weak

Hyponyms

Derived terms

See also

  • Brief m (letter delivered by mail)

References

  1. Kluge, Friedrich (1989), “Buchstabe”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological dictionary of the German language] (in German), 22nd edition, →ISBN

Further reading

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