Alb

See also: alb, ALB, alb., and Alb.

German

Alternative forms

• Alp

Etymology

From Middle High German alb, alp and Old High German alp, from Proto-Germanic *albiz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *albʰós. See also Elf, borrowed from English later.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔalp/

Noun

Alb m (genitive Albs or Albes or Alben, plural Alben)

1. elf (especially an evil one)
2. nightmare or physical ailment (formerly believed to be caused by an elf sitting on one's chest while one slept)
3. (dialectal) mountainous area, upland

References

• Thyen, Olaf (and Michael Clark, Werner Scholze-Stubenrecht, Bradbury Sykes (1999) The Oxford-Duden German Dictionary: German-English, English-German^[1], Oxford University Press, ISBN 0198602480: “Alb² .. (veralt.: Kobold) goblin believed to give sleeping people nightmares..”
• Thode, Ernest (1992) German-English Genealogical Dictionary^[2], Genealogical Publishing Com, ISBN 0806313420: “Alb- mountain; hill; ridge; escarpment; upland area..”
• Betterridge, Harold T. (1978) Cassell's German-English English-German Dictionary, Macmillan, ISBN 0-02-522930-3: “¹Alb 1. elf, .. 2. nighmare. ²Alb (dial.) alp(s)..”

Declension

Declension of Alb

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Alb	die	Alben
genitive	eines	des	Albes, Albs	der	Alben
dative	einem	dem	Alb, Albe1	den	Alben
accusative	einen	den	Alb	die	Alben

¹Now uncommon, see notes

Synonyms

• Elf, Elb, Elbe

Derived terms

• Albdruck
• Alberich
• Albtraum