Klabautermann
English
Etymology
Borrowed from German Klabautermann.
Noun
Klabautermann
- a water sprite (or nix) who assists sailors and fishermen on the Baltic Sea in their duties
German
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] German Low German. Without doubt related, either originally or secondarily, to (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Dutch kabouter(man). Further etymology unsettled. Several roots seem to have influenced the word phonetically and semantically, it being difficult to determine the oldest form. Assumed influences include:
- Middle Dutch cobbout (“goblin”), cognate of German Kobold.
- Low German klatern, klattern, cognate of German klettern (“to climb”). Compare the attested Low German klâtermænneken n.
- The verbs kalfatern (“to caulk”) and klabastern (“„to knock, to rumble“”) (compare Low German klabastern).
Pronunciation
Noun
Klabautermann m (genitive Klabautermanns or Klabautermannes, plural Klabautermänner, diminutive Klabautermännchen n)
- (nautical) Klabautermann (a two-faced goblin believed to be both helpful and inauspicious to a ship's crew)
Declension
Further reading
- “Klabautermann” in Duden online
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from German
- English terms derived from German
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English nouns with unknown or uncertain plurals
- German terms derived from German Low German
- German terms derived from Dutch
- German terms derived from Middle Dutch
- German terms derived from Low German
- German 4-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio links
- German lemmas
- German nouns
- German masculine nouns
- de:Nautical
- de:Fantasy