Sauerland

German

Etymology

First mentioned in 1266 as Suderlande; the -d- started to disappear around 1400. The first part is possibly a corruption of a Westphalian Low German word for southern: compare süder-, Süd, Old Saxon sûðar, all from sūth, from Proto-West Germanic *sunþr. This is more likely than the theory that it is directly from sauer (“sour”, in this sense "poor soil"). The second part is related to Land.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈzaʊ̯ɐlant/

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

das Sauerland n (proper noun, strong, usually definite, definite genitive des Sauerlandes or des Sauerlands)

1. A hilly region of Westphalia, North Rhine-Westphalia

   Synonym: Süderland

Usage notes

• There are märkisches Sauerland and kurkölnisches Sauerland.

Derived terms

• Sauerländer
• sauerländisch
• Hochsauerland

See also

• Latin: de Suderlande (as in Henricus de Suderlande)

Further reading

• “Sauerland” in Duden online
• Sauerland on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de
• Westfälisches Urkunden-Buch. Fortsetzung von Erhards Regesta historiae Westfaliae. Siebenter Band: Die Urkunden des kölnischen Westfalens vom J. 1200–1300, Münster, 1908, p. 563, Nr. 1243: from the year 1266, in Latin and containing the name Wesselo de Suderlande (dative/ablative)