kjerring

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse kerling, from karl.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /çærɪŋ/
• Rhymes: -ɪŋ

Noun

kjerring f or m (definite singular kjerringa or kjerringen, indefinite plural kjerringer, definite plural kjerringene)

1. old woman
2. wife
3. (slang) girl, lady
4. (slang) shrew, hag

Derived terms

• kjerringråd
• kjerringsnakk
• trollkjerring

References

• “kjerring” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

Dialects

• kjering
• kjelling
• kjedding (Setesdal)

Etymology

From Old Norse kerling, from karl, whence also kar and kall (karl).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [²çɛ̝r.rɪŋ], [²çær.rɪŋ], [²c͡çɛ̝r.rɪŋɡ], [²c͡çær.rɪŋɡ]
• Rhymes: -ɪŋ, -ɪŋɡ
• Hyphenation: kjer‧ring

Noun

kjerring f (definite singular kjerringa, indefinite plural kjerringar, definite plural kjerringane)

1. woman

   kjerringa med staven ― the woman with the staff

2. wife
3. old woman
4. (derogatory) an unmanly man
5. (derogatory, chiefly urban Eastern Norwegian) shrew, hag

Usage notes

The meaning of shrew or hag is newer and generally unused outside urban parts of central Eastern Norway.

Declension

  Declension of kjerring (strong ō-stem, ar-plural)

feminine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	kjerring	kjerringa	kjerringar	kjerringane
compound-genitive	―	―	―	―

Synonyms

• (woman): kvinne, kjelle, kone, dros, kvende, kvinnfolk, seggje, snot
• (wife): kone, frue, husfrøye

Derived terms

• huskjerring
• håkjerring
• -kjerring (“woman, female”)
• kaffikjerring (“woman that drinks a lot of coffee”)
• kjerringemne (“wife material”)
• kjerringråd (“(house)wife tricks/secrets”)
• kjerringsnakk (“woman talk”)
• korgekjerring, korgkjerring
• møykjerring
• runekjerring
• snøkjerring (“snow woman”)
• spåkjerring
• tauskjerring (“old unmarried woman”)
• torgkjerring (“female merchant”)
• trollkjerring (“witch”, literally “troll woman”)
• tuftekjerring
• tvåttekjerring
• vevarkjerring, vevkjerring (“weaveress, spider”)

References

• “kjerring” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.