Wimpel

See also: wimpel

German

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Germanic *wimpilaz; compare Old English wimpel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɪmpl̩/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Wimpel m or n or f (genitive Wimpels or Wimpel, plural Wimpel or Wimpeln)

1. a small, generally triangular flag; a pennant or pennon

Usage notes

• Wimpel is one of a small number of German nouns which can or historically could have all three genders; see the appendix.
• The masculine gender has always been the most common; in the time of the Brothers Grimm, the use of the neuter gender was also common, but already by their time the use of the feminine gender was archaic.
• The choice of gender determines the noun's inflection: With masculine and neuter genders, the genitive form is (des) Wimpels. With the feminine gender it is (der) Wimpel.