Birne

German

Etymology

From Middle High German bire, bir, from Old High German bira, pira, from Vulgar Latin pira, reanalysis of the plural of Latin pirum. Early Modern German birn is from the Middle High German plural and dative/genitive singular, whence a double plural birnen was formed. The contemporary Birne is a new backformation from this plural (or perhaps a merger of it with the older, still dialectal form bire). Thus, between Latin and modern German, the word was reformed on the basis of the plural three times.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɪrnə/, [ˈbɪrnə], [ˈbɪʁnə], [ˈbɪɐ̯nə]

• Audio (Austria):

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• Audio:

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Noun

Birne f (genitive Birne, plural Birnen, diminutive Birnchen n)

1. pear
2. lightbulb
3. (colloquial) head, bonce, noggin

Derived terms

• Abbruchbirne
• Abrissbirne
• birnenförmig
• Birnenkompott
• Birnenmus
• Birnensaft
• Birnenschnaps
• Birnensorte
• Butterbirne
• Erdbirne
• Glühbirne
• Grundbirne
• Kochbirne
• Leuchtbirne
• Saftbirne
• Tafelbirne
• Williamsbirne

 

Descendants

• → Estonian: pirn

Further reading

• “Birne” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Birne” in Duden online