Weib

German

Etymology

From Middle High German wīp, from Old High German wīb, from Proto-West Germanic *wīb. Cognate with English wife.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vaɪ̯p/, [väɪ̯p], [ʋäɪ̯p]

• Audio (Austria)

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• Audio

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• Rhymes: -aɪ̯p
• Homophone: Vibe

Noun

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

1. (now often derogatory) woman, broad
2. (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.)

Usage notes

• Weib 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. Women may also use it among each other in a chummy tone: Wir Weiber müssen ja zusammenhalten. (“Us girls must stick together.”) Otherwise it is disrespectful and often combined with adjectives for stronger vilification, e.g. Dummes Weib! (“Stupid hag!”)
• 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

Declension of Weib [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Weib	die	Weiber
genitive	eines	des	Weibes, Weibs	der	Weiber
dative	einem	dem	Weib, Weibe1	den	Weibern
accusative	ein	das	Weib	die	Weiber

¹Now rare, see notes.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• beweiben
• Eheweib
• Kebsweib
• Klageweib
• Mannweib
• Prachtweib
• Teufelsweib
• Vielweiberei
• Weiberfastnacht
• Weiberheld
• Weiberrat
• weibisch
• weiblich
• Weibsbild
• Weibsperson

See also

• Frauenperson
• Frauenzimmer

Further reading

• “Weib” in Duden online
• “Weib” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Hunsrik

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vaɪ̯p/

Noun

Weib n (plural Weiver)

1. woman

Further reading

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

Compare German Weib, Dutch wijf, English wife.

Noun

Weib n (plural Weiwer)

1. wife
2. woman