Weib

German[edit]

Weib n (strong, genitive Weibes or Weibs, plural Weiber, diminutive Weibchen n or Weiblein n)

(now often derogatory) woman, broad
(now archaic) woman, wife
- So sprach er [...]: „Weib, meine letzte Stunde ist da; alle Schätze, so ich allein besaß, sind dein und deiner Tochter.“
  So he said [...]: "Wife, my last hour is here; all the treasures that I possessed of myself are yours and your daughter's."
  (Emanuel Schikaneder, Die Zauberflöte (libretto), act II, scene 8.)

Weib usually cannot be a neutral term for “woman” in contemporary German (for that see Frau). Nonetheless, it is still rather a current word and may be more or less pejorative depending on context. It is most often heard among men, notably in the plural, in which case it has a macho ring to it, without being particularly abusive: Du weißt ja, wie die Weiber sind... − “Well, you know what women are like...” Perhaps comparable to the use of broad in American English. It might be used by a woman to convey an insulting tone: Dummes Weib! Wie konntest du das nicht wissen? − “Stupid woman! How could you not know that?”
In older German (well into the 19th century), Weib was a normal word for a woman, usually one of the “common people”, or someone's wife. This more neutral sense is still retained in many derived terms, particularly weiblich (“female”).

Declension of Weib [neuter, strong]

¹Now uncommon, see notes.

Derived terms

Weib n (plural Weiver)

Weib n (plural Weiwer)