Tölpel

German

Etymology

From a merger of dialectal tolp (with variants; of unknown, probably onomatopoetic, origin) and Middle High German dörpel, itself dissimilated from dörper, from Middle Low German dorper (“villager”), from dorp (“village”). Both of these words meant “rude, gruff person”, and dörper/dörpel particularly “uncultured, unrefined person”. The name of the bird is due to its apparently clumsy movements.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtœlpəl/, [ˈtœlpəl], [ˈtœlpl̩]

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

Tölpel m (strong, genitive Tölpels, plural Tölpel)

1. someone who acts in a clumsy or awkward way (physically or socially)
2. idiot, fool, dolt
3. gannet (a sea bird)

Declension

Declension of Tölpel [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Tölpel	die	Tölpel
genitive	eines	des	Tölpels	der	Tölpel
dative	einem	dem	Tölpel	den	Tölpeln
accusative	einen	den	Tölpel	die	Tölpel

Hyponyms

• (gannet): Basstölpel, Weißbauchtölpel

Derived terms

• tölpelhaft
• übertölpeln

Further reading

• “Tölpel” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Tölpel” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Tölpel” in Duden online