Graupel

German

Graupel

Etymology

16th century. From Graupe (“hulled grain”) +‎ -el (“diminutive”). Graupe is from Slavic, where the senses “hulled grain” and “hail” are both present. Compare Polish krupa, Czech kroupa, Serbo-Croatian krupa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡʁaʊ̯pəl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Grau‧pel

Noun

Graupel f or m (genitive Graupel or Graupels, plural Graupeln or Graupel)

1. (meteorology) graupel; soft hail

Usage notes

• The word was originally a feminine referring to a single flake of graupel and hence chiefly used in the plural Graupeln. However, the unchanged form Graupel has now become predominant. It may be construed as a plural, a feminine singular, or—at least informally—a masculine singular (on the model of words like Hagel, Regen, Schnee). The ambiguity is often circumvented by using the compound Graupelschauer.

Synonyms

• Griesel

Derived terms

• graupeln
• Graupelschauer

Descendants

• English: graupel

Further reading

• Graupel on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de