Fach

See also: fach and -fach

English

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from German Fach, short for Stimmfach. Doublet of fack.

Pronunciation

• (non-anglicized) IPA^(key): /fax/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

Fach (plural Fächer)

1. (music) A method of classifying singers, primarily opera singers, according to the range, weight, and color of their voices.

Usage notes

As an unadapted borrowing, this word is usually both capitalized (in accordance with German orthographic rules) and italicized in English-language texts.

German

Etymology

From Middle High German vach, from Old High German fah, from Proto-West Germanic *fak, from Proto-Germanic *faką.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fax/, [fäχ]

• Audio (Austria); “das Fach”:

  (file)

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Fach
• Rhymes: -ax

Noun

Fach n (strong, genitive Faches or Fachs, plural Fächer)

1. compartment
2. drawer
3. subject

Declension

Declension of Fach [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Fach	die	Fächer
genitive	eines	des	Faches, Fachs	der	Fächer
dative	einem	dem	Fach, Fache1	den	Fächern
accusative	ein	das	Fach	die	Fächer

¹Now rare, see notes.

Derived terms

• Brieffach
• Bücherfach
• Fachausdruck
• Fachbegriff
• Fachchinesisch
• Fachgutachten
• Fachhochschule
• Fachidiot
• Fachinformatiker
• Fachjargon
• Fachmarkt
• Fachmesse
• Fachsprache
• Handschuhfach
• Lieblingsfach
• Postfach
• Prüfungsfach n
• Regalfach
• Schließfach
• Schulfach
• Stimmfach
• Studienfach

Descendants

• → English: Fach
• → Esperanto: fako
• → Kashubian: fach
• → Luxembourgish: Fach
• → Polish: fach

Further reading

• “Fach” in Duden online
• “Fach”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[1] (in German)

Luxembourgish

Etymology

From German Fach, from Middle High German vach, from Old High German fah, from Proto-West Germanic *fak, from Proto-Germanic *faką.

The contemporary form is clearly of German origin; there may have been an inherited *Faach, but the older dictionaries do not give it. Compare Gefaach.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /faχ/, [fɑχ]
• Rhymes: -ɑχ

Noun

Fach n (plural Fächer)

1. compartment
2. pigeonhole, shelf
3. subject, field, discipline

Derived terms

• Fachmann
• Fachsprooch
• Fachwëssen

Plautdietsch

Noun

Fach n (plural Fecha)

1. subject, course of study