Ufer

German

Etymology

From Middle High German uover, ūver, ūber, possibly from northern Old High German *uofar, but usually considered a borrowing from Middle Low German ōver, ȫver, from Old Saxon *ōvar, *ōvir, from Proto-Germanic *ōferaz. Cognate with Dutch oever, Low German Över, English over (“shore, riverbank”). The native High German word for “shore” is Gestade.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈuːfɐ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Ufer

Noun

Ufer n (genitive Ufers, plural Ufer)

1. shore, shoreline
   • 1913, Walther Kabel, Ein gefährliches Abenteuer, Georg E. Nagel, p. 4:

     Die See lag wie ein Spiegel da, und nur hin und wieder rauschte eine Brandungswelle gegen das sandige Ufer.

     The sea lay there like a mirror, and only now and then a breaking wave swept against the sandy shore.

2. (of a river) bank

Derived terms

• Flussufer n (“riverbank”)
• über die Ufer treten (“to overflow its banks”)
• anderes Ufer (“being gay, queerness”)

Further reading

• “Ufer” in Duden online