Falter

See also: falter

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfaltɐ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Fal‧ter

Etymology 1

From Middle High German vīvalter, from Old High German fīfaltra, from Proto-Germanic *fifaldǭ, *fīfildǭ (“butterfly”), from Proto-Indo-European *peypel-. Cognate with Dutch vijfwouter, Icelandic fiðrildi, and outside Germanic Latin papilio. The form was variously altered and re-interpreted as Zweifalter, Pfeiffalter, etc., from which Falter was backformed, probably by association with unrelated falten (“to fold”).

Noun

Falter m (strong, genitive Falters, plural Falter)

1. an insect of the order Lepidoptera (i.e., a butterfly or moth)

   Synonyms: Nachtfalter, Schmetterling, Tagfalter

2. (entomology) imago of an insect of the order Lepidoptera

Declension

Declension of Falter [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Falter	die	Falter
genitive	eines	des	Falters	der	Falter
dative	einem	dem	Falter	den	Faltern
accusative	einen	den	Falter	die	Falter

Hyponyms

• Motte
• Nachtfalter
• Schmetterling
• Tagfalter

 

See also

• Motte
• Nachtfalter
• Raupe
• Schmetterling
• Sommervogel

 

Etymology 2

From falten (“to fold”) +‎ -er.

Noun

Falter m (strong, genitive Falters, plural Falter)

1. (Austria) leaflet, folder

   Synonyms: Broschüre, Faltblatt

Declension

Declension of Falter [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Falter	die	Falter
genitive	eines	des	Falters	der	Falter
dative	einem	dem	Falter	den	Faltern
accusative	einen	den	Falter	die	Falter

Further reading

• “Falter” in Duden online
• “Falter” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache