Heimweh

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ḱey-

Proto-Indo-European *-mos

Proto-Indo-European *ḱóymos

Proto-Indo-European *teḱ-

Proto-Indo-European *-éyti

Proto-Indo-European *tḱéytibf.

Proto-Indo-European *tḱey-

Proto-Indo-European *-mos

Proto-Indo-European *tḱóymos

Proto-Germanic *haimaz

Proto-West Germanic *haim

Old High German heim

Middle High German heim

German Heim

Proto-Indo-European *waider.

Proto-Germanic *waiwô

Old High German wēwo

Middle High German wēwe

German Weh

German Heimwehbor.

English Heimweh

Borrowed from German Heimweh.

Noun

Heimweh (uncountable)

1. (uncountable, rare) Homesickness.
   • 1908 December 12, Harry Davids, Tom Springer, “Christmas Sorrows”, in Alfred Holman, editor, The Argonaut, volume LXIII, number 1655, San Francisco, Calif.: Argonaut Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 397, column 1:

     For the long trail stretched before us, for we heard the call, / Left the hearthstone and the homeland, felt the rover's thrall; / Wandered to the far horizon, sought the joy of life— / Now the wanderlust is waning, heimweh now is rife.

German

Etymology

Heim +‎ Weh. Originally a medical term in Switzerland. Cognate to Alemannic German Häiwee, Bavarian Haimweh (Upper Austrian), Low German Heimweih.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhaɪ̯mˌveː/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Heim‧weh

Noun

Heimweh n (strong, genitive Heimwehes or Heimwehs, no plural)

1. homesickness

   Antonym: Fernweh

   • 2006, Bernhard Schlink, Die Heimkehr, Diogenes, →ISBN, page 64:

     In die Herzen der Kameraden wehen Heimweh und Fernweh, und die Männer seufzen, seufzen in wohliger Sehnsucht.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

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

	singular
	indef.	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Heimweh
genitive	eines	des	Heimwehes, Heimwehs
dative	einem	dem	Heimweh, Heimwehe1
accusative	ein	das	Heimweh

¹Now rare, see notes.

Related terms

• Nostalgie

Descendants

• → Danish: hjemve
• → Dutch: heimwee (calque)
• English: → Heimweh, → homesickness (calque)
• → German Low German: Heemweh (calque)
• → New Latin: nostalgia (calque)
  • → French: nostalgie
    • → Dutch: nostalgie
    • → Greek: νοσταλγία (nostalgía)
    • → Persian: نوستالژی (nostâlži)
    • → Romanian: nostalgie
    • → Turkish: nostalji

Further reading

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