Ampfer

German

Etymology

From the equivalent Middle High German ampfer, Old High German ampfaro m, allied to the equivalent Old English ompre, from Proto-West Germanic *amprō; an adjective used as a substantive. Compare Dutch amper (“sharp, bitter, unripe”), Old Swedish amper, Old Norse apr (“sharp, chiefly of cold”) (for Proto-Germanic *ampraz); also Low German ampern (“to prove bitter to the taste”). Sauerampfer (also corrupted to Sauer-ramf) is a tautological compound like Windhund. In case *ampraz, from earlier Pre-Germanic *ambras, represents the properly Proto-Indo-European *amrós (see *h₂eh₃mós, *h₂éh₃-mr-), Sanskrit अम्ल (amlá, “sour; wood-sorrel”) and Latin amārus (“bitter”) are primitively cognate with this word.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈam(p)fɐ/

• Audio

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Noun

Ampfer m (strong, genitive Ampfers, plural Ampfer)

1. sorrel (genus Rumex)

Declension

Declension of Ampfer [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Ampfer	die	Ampfer
genitive	eines	des	Ampfers	der	Ampfer
dative	einem	dem	Ampfer	den	Ampfern
accusative	einen	den	Ampfer	die	Ampfer

Derived terms

• Sauerampfer (“R. acetosa, R. acetosella”)

Further reading

• “Ampfer” in Duden online