-igkeit

German

Etymology

-ig +‎ -heit, analysable as -ig +‎ -keit.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪçkaɪ̯t/ (Germany; less common in southern regiolects)
• IPA^(key): /ɪkkaɪ̯t/, /ɪɡ̊kaɪ̯t/, /iɡ̊kaɪ̯t/ (most common form in southern Germany, Austria, and Switzerland)
• IPA^(key): /ɪɕkaɪ̯t/, /ɪʃkaɪ̯t/ (all central German dialects)

• Audio

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• Audio

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Suffix

-igkeit f (genitive -igkeit, plural -igkeiten)

1. forms (usually abstract) nouns from adjectives

   ‎süß (“sweet”) + ‎-igkeit → ‎Süßigkeit (“sweetness, candy”)

   ‎müde (“tired”) + ‎-igkeit → ‎Müdigkeit (“tiredness”)

   ‎sinnlos (“meaningless”) + ‎-igkeit → ‎Sinnlosigkeit (“meaninglessness”)

   ‎fehlerhaft (“faulty”) + ‎-igkeit → ‎Fehlerhaftigkeit (“faultiness”)

Usage notes

• Used always with adjectives in -haft, -fest, and -los, sometimes with adjectives without other suffixes.

Declension

Declension of -igkeit [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	-igkeit	die	-igkeiten
genitive	einer	der	-igkeit	der	-igkeiten
dative	einer	der	-igkeit	den	-igkeiten
accusative	eine	die	-igkeit	die	-igkeiten

Derived terms

German terms suffixed with -igkeit

Further reading

• “-igkeit” in Duden online
• “-igkeit” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache