Wehmut

German

Etymology

From Middle Low German wēmōt, perhaps a backformation from wēmōdich, whence German wehmütig. Analysable as Weh (“woe”) +‎ Mut (“mood, emotional state”). The feminine under influence of the rhyming word Demut (“humbleness”, from Middle High German demüete) or other feminines ending with -mut (like Großmut, Schwermut). From Middle Low German also continental Scandinavian vemod. Dutch weemoed is native but semantically influenced by the German.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈveːˌmuːt/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

Wehmut f (genitive Wehmut, no plural)

1. melancholia, nostalgia, wistfulness (yearning for the past, homesickness)
   • 2005 September 15, Matti Lieske, “Erinnerung an ein Horrorjahr”, in Berliner Zeitung:

     Dennoch wird manch ein Spieler oder Offizieller von Hertha BSC in diesen Tagen Wehmut verspüren und schweren Herzens an den letzten Bundesligaauftritt der vergangenen Spielzeit denken.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

Declension of Wehmut [sg-only, feminine]

	singular
	indef.	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Wehmut
genitive	einer	der	Wehmut
dative	einer	der	Wehmut
accusative	eine	die	Wehmut

Related terms

• wehmütig

Further reading

• “Wehmut” in Duden online