Fahrenheit

English

Etymology

From German Fahrenheit, named after Prussian scientist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfæɹənhaɪt/, (Mary–marry–merry merger) /ˈfɛɹənhaɪt/, (uncommon) /ˈfɑːɹənhaɪt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

Fahrenheit (not comparable)

1. Describing a temperature scale originally defined as having 0°F as the lowest temperature obtainable with a mixture of ice and salt, and 96°F as the temperature of the human body, and now defined with 32°F equal to 0°C, and each degree Fahrenheit equal to 5/9 of a degree Celsius or 5/9 kelvin.
   • 2017 December 21, Foster Klug, Kim Tong-hyung, Yong Jun Chang, “The cold returns for Winter Games in mountainous Pyeongchang”, in AP News‎^[1], archived from the original on 18 February 2024‎^[2]:

     Pyeongchang sits nearly half a mile above sea level in the northeastern corner of South Korea, not too far from the border with the North. It is one of the coldest parts of the country — wind chill in February is often in single digits (Fahrenheit) — and notorious for a powerful, biting wind that gathers force as it barrels down out of Siberia and the Manchurian Plain and then across the jagged granite peaks of North Korea.

   • 2021, Claire Cock-Starkey, Hyphens & Hashtags, Bodleian Library, page 142:

     For example, in the Fahrenheit scale 212°F is the boiling point of water.

   • 2025 January 14, Jay Ganglani and Kocha Olarn, “59 degrees Fahrenheit might not sound that chilly. In Thailand’s capital, it’s a shock to the system”, in CNN‎^[3], archived from the original on 24 January 2025:

     Temperatures in Bangkok fell as low as 59.3 degrees Fahrenheit (15.2 degrees Celsius) on Monday, the lowest the capital has seen in years, as the country’s weather agency warned cool conditions could persist through mid-February.

Coordinate terms

• Celsius
• centigrade
• Kelvin
• kelvin

Derived terms

• degree Fahrenheit

Translations

temperature scale

• Bulgarian: Фа́ренхайт m (Fárenhajt)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 華氏 / 华氏 (waa⁴ si⁶)

  Mandarin: 華氏 / 华氏 (zh) (Huáshì)

• Esperanto: Farenhejto, farenhejta
• Finnish: fahrenheit
• French: Fahrenheit (fr)
• German: Fahrenheit (de) n
• Greek: Φαρενάιτ (Farenáit)
• Hindi: फ़ारेन्हाइट (fārenhāiṭ)
• Japanese: 華氏 (ja) (かし, Kashi)
• Korean: 화씨(華氏) (ko) (Hwassi)
• Kyrgyz: Фаренгейт (ky) (Farengeyt)
• Macedonian: Фаренхајт (Farenhajt)
• Persian: فارنهایت (fa) (Fârenhâyt)
• Portuguese: fahrenheit
• Russian: Фаренге́йт (ru) m (Farengéjt)
• Spanish: Fahrenheit
• Swedish: Fahrenheit (sv)
• Tagalog: Parenhayt, Parenhait
• Turkish: fahrenhayt (tr)
• Yiddish: פֿאַרנהײַט (farnhayt)

Further reading

• Fahrenheit on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

German

Etymology

Named after Prussian scientist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit. The surname is poorly attested and of uncertain origin, but superficially composed of fahren (“to go, travel”) + the suffix -heit.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfaːʁənhaɪ̯t/
• Hyphenation: Fah‧ren‧heit

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Noun

Fahrenheit n (strong, genitive Fahrenheit, no plural)

1. (sciences) Fahrenheit

Declension

Declension of Fahrenheit [sg-only, neuter, strong]

	singular
	indef.	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Fahrenheit
genitive	eines	des	Fahrenheit
dative	einem	dem	Fahrenheit
accusative	ein	das	Fahrenheit

Further reading

• “Fahrenheit” in Duden online
• “Fahrenheit”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[4] (in German)

Luxembourgish

Noun

Fahrenheit

1. Fahrenheit

Further reading

• Fahrenheit in the Lëtzebuerger Online Dictionnaire

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfaɾenxait/ [ˈfa.ɾẽŋ.xai̯t̪]
  • Rhymes: -aɾenxait
• IPA^(key): /ˈfaɾenxeit/ [ˈfa.ɾẽŋ.xei̯t̪]
  • Rhymes: -aɾenxeit
• Syllabification: Fah‧ren‧heit

Adjective

Fahrenheit m or f (masculine and feminine plural Fahrenheits)

1. Fahrenheit

Further reading

• Seco, Manuel; Andrés, Olimpia; Ramos, Gabino (2023), “Fahrenheit”, in Diccionario del español actual [Dictionary of Current Spanish] (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA
• “Fahrenheit”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Tagalog

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *per-der.

Proto-Germanic *faraną

Proto-West Germanic *faran

Old High German faran

Middle High German varn

German fahren

Proto-Indo-European *keyt-der.

Proto-Germanic *haiduzder.

Proto-West Germanic *-haidu

Old High German -heit

Middle High German -heit

German -heit

German Fahrenheitbor.

English Fahrenheitubor.

Tagalog Fahrenheit

Unadapted borrowing from English Fahrenheit.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈfaɾenhajt/ [ˌfaː.ɾɛn̪ˈhaɪ̯t̪]
  • IPA^(key): (with nativization) /ˈpaɾenhajt/ [ˌpaː.ɾɛn̪ˈhaɪ̯t̪]
• Rhymes: -aɾenhajt
• Syllabification: Fah‧ren‧heit

Noun

Fáhrenhéit (Baybayin spelling ᜉᜇᜒᜈ᜔ᜑᜌ᜔ᜆ᜔)

1. alternative form of Parenhayt