Psalm

See also: psalm

German

Etymology

Relatinized form of older Salm (now an informal doublet meaning “lengthy talk”), from Middle High German salm(e), from Old High German salmo, from Latin psalmus, which see for more.

The spelling ps- is occasionally attested also in Old and Middle High German, though this need not reflect an according pronunciation. The form was spread chiefly through Luther’s Bible. Dialectally, the pronunciation /ps/ has widely established itself in Upper German, where that onset is common through reduction of the prefix be-. The more northern dialects generally retained the form Salm until fairly recently.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /psalm/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Noun

Psalm m (mixed, genitive Psalms or Psalmes, plural Psalmen)

1. psalm (chapter of the biblical book of Psalms)

Declension

Declension of Psalm [masculine, mixed]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Psalm	die	Psalmen
genitive	eines	des	Psalms, Psalmes	der	Psalmen
dative	einem	dem	Psalm, Psalme1	den	Psalmen
accusative	einen	den	Psalm	die	Psalmen

¹Now rare, see notes.

Hyponyms

• Bußpsalm
• Dankpsalm
• Klagepsalm
• Lobpsalm

Derived terms

• psalmisch
• Psalmist
• Psalmodie
• psalmodieren

Related terms

• Psalter

Further reading

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

Plautdietsch

Noun

Psalm m (plural Psalmen)

1. psalm