Wasser

See also: wasser, wässer, Wässer, wàsser, Wàsser, Wâsser, and Wåsser

English

Proper noun

Wasser (plural Wassers)

1. A surname.

Anagrams

• resaws, swares, sawers, wrasse, sewars, swears

Alemannic German

Alternative forms

• Wâsser, Wàser (Alsatian)
• Wâser (Dunzenheim)
• wasser, wàsser (Italian Walser)

Etymology

From Middle High German waʒʒer, from Old High German waʒʒar. Cognate with German Wasser, Dutch and English water, Icelandic vatn.

Noun

Wasser n

1. (Basel, Alsatian) water

Derived terms

• Wassermoli

References

• Wörterbuch der elsässischen Mundarten
• Rudolf Suter, Baseldeutsch-Grammatik (1976): s Wasser

Central Franconian

Alternative forms

• Waßer (native in most dialects; now archaic in many)

Etymology

From Middle High German wazzer, from Old High German wazzar. The use of -a- instead of the expected -ā- is influenced by standard German.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʋasʌ/

Noun

Wasser n (plural Wasser, diminutive Wässerche)

1. (many dialects) water
   • 1990, “Dat Wasser vun Kölle”‎^[1]performed by Bläck Fööss:

     O leeve Jott, jevv uns Wasser,
     Denn janz Kölle hät Doosch!
     O leeve Jott, jevv uns Wasser
     Un helf uns en der Nut!

     O dear God, give us water,
     For all of Cologne is thirsty!
     O dear God, give us water
     And help us in our misery!

Descendants

• Hunsrik: Wasser
• Luxembourgish: Waasser
• Transylvanian Saxon: Wåsser, Wosser (Sibiu), Wauesser (Brașov)

German

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *wed-

Proto-Indo-European *-r̥

Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥

Proto-Germanic *watōr

Proto-West Germanic *watar

Old High German wazzar

Middle High German wazzer

German Wasser

From Middle High German wazzer, from Old High German wazzar, from Proto-West Germanic *watar, from Proto-Germanic *watōr, from Proto-Indo-European *wédōr, collective of *wódr̥.

Compare Low German Water, Dutch water, English water, Danish vand.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈva.sər/, [ˈva.sɐ], [ˈva.səʁ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio:

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• Audio (Bavaria):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Was‧ser

Noun

Wasser n (strong, genitive Wassers, plural Wasser or Wässer, diminutive Wässerchen n or Wässerlein n)

1. water (H₂O)
2. alcoholic beverage, similar to brandy, made from fermented fruit
3. (colloquial) Clipping of Mineralwasser/Tafelwasser.

Usage notes

• Both plural forms are infrequent. Unchanged Wasser is used as a purely emphatic plural: die Wasser des Rheins – the waters of the Rhine. Wässer is used as an actual plural meaning different kinds of water (or brandy): teure und preiswerte Wässer – expensive and inexpensive [table] waters. However, Wässer is also used emphatically in some compound words such as Abwässer (“waste water”) and Schmutzwässer (“dirty water”).

Declension

Declension of Wasser [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Wasser	die	Wasser, Wässer
genitive	eines	des	Wassers	der	Wasser, Wässer
dative	einem	dem	Wasser	den	Wassern, Wässern
accusative	ein	das	Wasser	die	Wasser, Wässer

Derived terms

• Abwasser (“wastewater; sewage”)
• Altwasser (“oxbow lake”)
• auch nur mit Wasser kochen
• Blut ist dicker als Wasser (“blood is thicker than water”)
• das Wasser reichen können (“to hold a candle”, literally “to hand the water”)
• Gewässer (“body of water, waterbody, water”)
• Hochwasser (“flood, flooding”)
• Kirschwasser (“kirsch, a clear brandy made from black cherries”)
• Meerwasser (“seawater”)
• Mineralwasser (“mineral water, carbonated water”)
• Salzwasser (“salt water”)
• Sprudelwasser (“fizzy water”)
• Süßwasser (“freshwater”)
• Trinkwasser (“drinking water”)
• Wasser predigen und Wein trinken (“to not practice what one preaches”, literally “to preach water and drink wine”)
• Wasserbecken
• Wasserbehälter
• Wasserbombe (“depth charge; water bomb, water balloon”, literally “water bomb”)
• Wasserdampf (“steam; water vapour”)
• Wassereis (“ice pop, popsicle, ice lolly; frozen water”, literally “water ice”)
• Wasserfall (“waterfall”)
• Wasserfarbe (“watercolour”)
• Wasserfläche
• Wasserflasche f (“water bottle”)
• Wasserfloh
• Wassergewebe
• Wassergüte
• Wasserhund (“water dog”)
• wässerig, wässrig (“watery”)
• Wasserkopf
• Wasserlauf
• Wassermann (“Aquarius, Aquarian”)
• Wasserminze
• Wassermühle (“water mill”)
• wässern (“to water”)
• Wasserpfeife (“water pipe”)
• Wasserralle (“water rail”)
• Wasserrutsche f (“Waterslide”)
• Wassersäule f (“water column”)
• Wasserscheide (“watershed”)
• Wasserski (“water skiing; water ski”)
• Wasserskorpion (“water scorpion”)
• Wasserspeier (“gargoyle, waterspout”)
• Wasserspinne (“water spider, diving bell spider”)
• Wasserstoff (“hydrogen”)
• Wasserstraße
• Wassertemperatur
• Wassertiefe
• Wasserverbrauch
• Wasserverlust
• Wasserwanze (“water bug”)
• Weihwasser
• Wildwasser (“white water”)
• Wurstwasser (“water in which sausages have been cooked and/or packaged”)

 

Further reading

• “Wasser” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Wasser” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Wasser” in Duden online
• Wasser on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de

Hunsrik

Alternative forms

• waser (Wiesemann spelling system)

Etymology

From Central Franconian Wasser, from Middle High German wazzer, from Old High German wazzar, from Proto-West Germanic *watar, from Proto-Germanic *watōr, from Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥, from *wed- + *-r̥.

Cognate with German Wasser, Luxembourgish Waasser, Pennsylvania German Wasser and Transylvanian Saxon Wåsser.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvasa/
• Rhymes: -asa
• Syllabification: Was‧ser

Noun

Wasser n (plural Wassre)

1. water

   Ich drinke en Glaas Wasser.

   I am drinking a glass of water.

Derived terms

• Mineralwasser
• Rehnwasser
• Salswasser
• Zitronewasser

 

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

From Middle High German wazzer, from Old High German wazzar. Compare German Wasser, Dutch water, English water.

Noun

Wasser n

1. water

Rhine Franconian

Etymology

From Middle High German wazzer, from Old High German wazzar.

Noun

Wasser ?

1. (many dialects, including Palatine) water

References

• Verse und Reime eines alten Pfälzers, in pfälzischer Mundart (1864): guts Wasser

Unserdeutsch

Etymology

From German Wasser, from Middle High German wazzer, from Old High German wazzar.

Noun

*Wasser

1. water

References

• Craig Volker, The Birth and Decline of Rabaul Creole German, in: 1991, Language and Linguistics in Melanesia, vol. 22, pp. 143ff., here p. 154:

  3. Inclusive/exclusive 'we':

  (a) Uns bis neben Salz-wasser.

  we:IN are next.to salt water

  'We're next to the ocean.'

Volga German

Etymology

From Middle High German wazzer, from Old High German wazzar.

Noun

Wasser n

1. water