Korb

See also: korb and kõrb

German

Etymology

From Middle High German korp, from Old High German korb, chorp, from Proto-Germanic *kurbaz, possibly a borrowing from Latin corbis. Compare Dutch korf, English corf, Danish kurv, Swedish korg, Icelandic karfa.

The sense “rejection of a (romantic) request” is formed back from the expressions einen Korb geben (“to so reject”), einen Korb kriegen (“to be so rejected”). These derive from certain older customs, which involved a bottomless basket as a symbol of the end or inexistence of love. The further origin of this symbol seems uncertain, though it has been plausibly related to the apparent mediaeval practice of pulling a secret visitor up to one’s window in a basket. Compare the same in Dutch een korf krijgen and Swedish få korgen.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /kɔrp/, /kɔɐ̯p/
  • Audio(file)

Noun

Korb m (genitive Korbes, plural Körbe, diminutive Körbchen n or Körblein n)

  1. basket; creel
  2. (aviation) nacelle
  3. (law) a set of laws around a certain theme
  4. (informal) rejection of a request, typically romantic, such as a proposal or asking for a date

Declension
Declension of Korb
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative ein der Korb die Körbe
genitive eines des Korbes,
Korbs		 der Körbe
dative einem dem Korb,
Korbe1		 den Körben
accusative einen den Korb die Körbe
1Now uncommon, see notes

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Further reading
  • Korb in Duden online
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.