Sau

See also: sau, SAU, sáu, sâu, său, s-au, sau-, and sa'u

Central Franconian

Alternative forms

• Sou (spelling variant, chiefly used for Moselle Franconian dialects)

Etymology

From Old High German sū.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zou̯/

Noun

Sau f (plural Säu or Sei, diminutive Säuche or Seiche)

1. (Ripuarian, western Moselle Franconian) sow; female pig
2. (eastern Moselle Franconian) pig (male or female)

Usage notes

• The inflected forms with -äu- are Ripuarian, those with -ei- are Moselle Franconian.

Synonyms

• (any pig): Ferke; Schwein

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German

Etymology

From Middle High German sū, from Old High German sū, from Proto-Germanic *sūz, from Proto-Indo-European *sū-. Cognate with English sow, Danish so.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zaʊ̯/
• Rhymes: -aʊ̯

Noun

Sau f (genitive Sau, plural Säue or Sauen)

1. (archaic or dialectal) pig (male or female)
2. sow, female pig
3. (figuratively) a dislikable or unethical person

Usage notes

• Both plurals are roughly equally common in the concrete sense “female pig”, though Sauen is usually preferred in farmers’ and hunters’ parlance. In the figurative sense, only Säue is used.

Declension

Declension of Sau

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Sau	die	Säue
genitive	einer	der	Sau	der	Säue
dative	einer	der	Sau	den	Säuen
accusative	eine	die	Sau	die	Säue

Declension of Sau

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Sau	die	Sauen
genitive	einer	der	Sau	der	Sauen
dative	einer	der	Sau	den	Sauen
accusative	eine	die	Sau	die	Sauen

Hypernyms

• Schwein

Derived terms

• Saustall
• unter aller Sau

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Luxembourgish

Etymology

From Middle High German sū, from Old High German sū, from Proto-Germanic *sūz. Cognate with German Sau, English sow, Icelandic sýr, Swedish so.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zæːʊ̯/

Noun

Sau f (plural Sai)

1. sow (female pig)

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Pennsylvania German

Etymology

Compare German Sau, Dutch zeug, English sow.

Noun

Sau f (plural Sei)

1. sow (female pig)
2. filthy person

Dervied Terms

• Grundsau