Messer

See also: messer

English

Etymology

Two main origins:

• Borrowed from German Messer (“knife”), a metonymic occupational surname for a cutler.
• An English occupational surname for someone who kept watch over harvested crops, from Old French messier (“harvest warden”).

Proper noun

Messer (plural Messers)

1. A surname.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Messer is the 1769^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 20306 individuals. Messer is most common among White (93.73%) individuals.

Further reading

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Messer”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 2, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 580.

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛsɐ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d-der.

Proto-Germanic *matiz

Proto-West Germanic *mati

Proto-Indo-European *sek-der.

Proto-Germanic *sahsą

Proto-West Germanic *sahs

Proto-West Germanic *matisahs

Old High German mezzisahs

Middle High German messer

German Messer

From Middle High German messer, mezzer, from Old High German mezzir, mezzeres, mezzirahs, mezzisahs (“knife”), from Proto-West Germanic *matisahs (“knife used for cutting food”).

Noun

Messer n (strong, genitive Messers, plural Messer, diminutive Messerchen n or Messerlein n)

1. knife

Declension

Declension of Messer [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Messer	die	Messer
genitive	eines	des	Messers	der	Messer
dative	einem	dem	Messer	den	Messern
accusative	ein	das	Messer	die	Messer

Hyponyms

• Brotmesser
• Cuttermesser
• Käsemesser
• Klappmesser
• Sägemesser
• Springmesser
• Stanleymesser
• Steakmesser
• Taschenmesser
• Teppichmesser
• Wurfmesser

Derived terms

• Messerangriff
• Messerattacke
• Messerattentat
• Messerchen
• Messerfisch
• Messergriff
• Messerklinge
• Messerrücken
• messerscharf
• Messerschärfe
• Messerscheide
• Messerschmied
• Messerschmiede
• Messerschneide
• Messerschnitt
• Messerspitze
• Messerstecher
• Messerstecherei
• Messerstich
• Messerwerfer

See also

• Kneif

Etymology 2

From the verb messen.

Noun

Messer m (strong, genitive Messers, plural Messer)

1. agent noun of messen
   1. measurer, surveyor
   2. gauge, meter

Declension

Declension of Messer [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Messer	die	Messer
genitive	eines	des	Messers	der	Messer
dative	einem	dem	Messer	den	Messern
accusative	einen	den	Messer	die	Messer

Hyponyms

• Abstandmesser
• Belichtungsmesser
• Beschleunigungsmesser
• Blutdruckmesser
• Drehzahlmesser
• Druckmesser
• Entfernungsmesser
• Feldmesser
• Fiebermesser
• Geschwindigkeitsmesser
• Gradmesser
• Höhenmesser
• Luftgeschwindigkeitsmesser
• Luftmassenmesser
• Niederschlagsmesser
• Phasenmesser
• Regenmesser
• Scheibenmesser
• Spannungsmesser
• Temperaturmesser
• Tiefenmesser
• Winkelmesser

Further reading

• “Messer (Prüfwerkzeug, Prüfer)” in Duden online
• “Messer (Werkzeug, Gerät, Waffe)” in Duden online
• “Messer”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[1] (in German)
• “Messer” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Messer” in OpenThesaurus.de
• Messer on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de

Hunsrik

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmesa/
• Rhymes: -esa
• Syllabification: Mes‧ser

Etymology 1

Noun

Messer n (plural Messer or Messre, diminutive Messerche)

1. knife

Etymology 2

Noun

Messer m (plural Messer)

1. gauge, meter

Further reading

• Boll, Piter Kehoma (2021), “Messer”, in Dicionário Hunsriqueano Riograndense–Português, 3rd edition (overall work in Portuguese), Ivoti: Riograndenser Hunsrickisch

Luxembourgish

Etymology

From Middle High German messer, mezzer, from Old High German mezzir, mezzeres, mezzirahs, mezzisahs (“knife”), from Proto-West Germanic *matisahs (“knife used for cutting food”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmæsɐ/

Noun

Messer n (plural Messeren, diminutive Messerchen)

1. knife

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

Compare German Messer, Dutch mes.

Noun

Messer n (plural Messer)

1. knife