Mensch
German
Etymology
From Middle High German mensche, mensch, from Old High German mennisko, a substantivization of the adjective mennisk, from man (whence modern Mann). (The word is retained as an adjective in some German dialects.) Compare Yiddish מענטש (mentsh), Dutch mens, Swedish människa, all with the primary sense of ‘person’ or ‘human being’.
Pronunciation
Noun
Mensch m (genitive Menschen, plural Menschen, diminutive Menschchen n or Menschlein n)
- human, human being, person
- (interjection) man
Usage notes
- Mensch is a weak noun in the standard language but is part of a group of nouns with a stark tendency to be strong colloquially so one might hear dem Mensch instead of dem Menschen.
- In older literature, the genitive des Menschens may occur.
Declension
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Hunsrik
Etymology
From Middle High German mensche, mensch, from Old High German mennisko, a substantivization of the adjective mennisk, from man.
Pronunciation
Noun
Mensch m (plural Mensche)
- human, human being, person
- Keen Mensch konnd do leve.
- No human being could live here.
Derived terms
Further reading
Plautdietsch
Etymology
From Middle Low German mensche, minsche, from Old Saxon mennisk, mennisko, from Proto-Germanic *menniskaz.
Noun
Mensch m (plural Menschen)
Categories:
- German terms inherited from Middle High German
- German terms derived from Middle High German
- German terms inherited from Old High German
- German terms derived from Old High German
- German 1-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio links
- German terms with homophones
- German lemmas
- German nouns
- German masculine nouns
- de:Human
- Hunsrik terms inherited from Middle High German
- Hunsrik terms derived from Middle High German
- Hunsrik terms inherited from Old High German
- Hunsrik terms derived from Old High German
- Hunsrik 1-syllable words
- Hunsrik terms with IPA pronunciation
- Hunsrik lemmas
- Hunsrik nouns
- Hunsrik masculine nouns
- Hunsrik terms with usage examples
- Plautdietsch terms inherited from Middle Low German
- Plautdietsch terms derived from Middle Low German
- Plautdietsch terms inherited from Old Saxon
- Plautdietsch terms derived from Old Saxon
- Plautdietsch terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Plautdietsch terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Plautdietsch lemmas
- Plautdietsch nouns
- Plautdietsch masculine nouns
- Plautdietsch one-syllable nouns