Alter
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German[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From Middle High German alter, from Old High German altar, from Proto-Germanic *aldrą. Cognate with German Low German Oller.
Noun[edit]
Alter n (strong, genitive Alters, plural Alter)
- age, old age
- 1834, Rahel. Ein Buch des Andenkens für ihre Freunde. Erster Theil, Berlin, page 275:
- Sie sind Eines Alters [...]
- They are of the same age [...]
- antiquity
- epoch, age
Declension[edit]
Declension of Alter [neuter, strong]
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
- → Luxembourgish: Alter
See also[edit]
Etymology 2[edit]
Nominalization of adjective alt.
Noun[edit]
Alter m (adjectival, definite nominative der Alte, genitive (des) Alten, plural Alte, definite plural die Alten, feminine Alte)
- nominalization of alt (“someone or something old or bygone”)
- old man; old person
- (colloquial) mate, bloke (UK); dude, guy (US); a somewhat intimate or mildly dismissive word for a man, especially but not exclusively used as a vocative
- Synonyms: (regional) Keule, Mann, Kumpel, Digga
- Alter! Komm zurück, wir müssen hier links.
- Dude! Come back, we need to go left here.
- Haste ma ’n Euro für was zu essen, Alter?
- You got a euro for summat to eat, mate?
- Wenn irgendso’n Alter hier Ärger macht, schmeiß ihn gleich raus.
- If some bloke acts up in here, kick him right out.
- Ihr Alter hat sie sitzen lassen. ― Her guy jilted her.
Declension[edit]
Declension of Alter [masculine, adjectival]
singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
masculine gender | strong declension | |||
nominative | Alter | Alte | ||
genitive | Alten | Alter | ||
dative | Altem | Alten | ||
accusative | Alten | Alte | ||
weak declension | ||||
nominative | der | Alte | die | Alten |
genitive | des | Alten | der | Alten |
dative | dem | Alten | den | Alten |
accusative | den | Alten | die | Alten |
mixed declension | ||||
nominative | ein | Alter | (keine) | Alten |
genitive | eines | Alten | (keiner) | Alten |
dative | einem | Alten | (keinen) | Alten |
accusative | einen | Alten | (keine) | Alten |
Interjection[edit]
Alter
- (colloquial, chiefly slang) man, dude, mate; used for emphasis
- Alter, was denn hier los?
- Man, what’s going on in here?
Usage notes[edit]
- This use is derived from the word for a man above and is not always clearly distinguishable from it. It is more marked as slang, however, and is also quite common when addressing a female (the latter part in line with the more usual synonym Mann).
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology 3[edit]
Noun[edit]
Alter f
Further reading[edit]
- “Alter” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “Alter” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
- “Alter” in Duden online
- “Alter” in Duden online
Luxembourgish[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From German Alter n. The masculine gender, though existing dialectally in German, is probably triggered by French âge.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
Alter m (plural Alteren)
Categories:
- German 2-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio links
- German terms inherited from Middle High German
- German terms derived from Middle High German
- German terms inherited from Old High German
- German terms derived from Old High German
- German terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- German lemmas
- German nouns
- German neuter nouns
- German terms with quotations
- German adjectival nouns
- German masculine nouns
- German colloquialisms
- German terms with usage examples
- German interjections
- German slang
- German non-lemma forms
- German noun forms
- Luxembourgish terms borrowed from German
- Luxembourgish terms derived from German
- Luxembourgish terms derived from French
- Luxembourgish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Luxembourgish lemmas
- Luxembourgish nouns
- Luxembourgish masculine nouns