Gebein

German

Etymology

From Middle High German gebeine, from Old High German gibeini. Equivalent to ge- +‎ Bein.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡəˈbaɪ̯n/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪ̯n

Noun

Gebein n (strong, genitive Gebeines or Gebeins, plural Gebeine)

1. (dated) all the bones, the skeleton of a human body
   • 1840, “Der deutsche Rhein”, Nikolaus Becker (lyrics), Robert Schumann (music):

     Sie sollen ihn nicht haben, / Den freien deutschen 'Rhein, / Bis seine Fluth begraben / Des letzten Mann’s Gebein.

     They shall not have him, / The free German Rhine, / Until his flood has covered / The last man's bones.

2. (plural only) the remains of a dead body, especially the bones

Declension

Declension of Gebein [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Gebein	die	Gebeine
genitive	eines	des	Gebeines, Gebeins	der	Gebeine
dative	einem	dem	Gebein, Gebeine1	den	Gebeinen
accusative	ein	das	Gebein	die	Gebeine

¹Now rare, see notes.

Further reading

• “Gebein”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[1] (in German)
• “Gebein” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Gebein” in Duden online
• “Gebein” in OpenThesaurus.de
• Gebein on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de
• “Gebein” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.