Wort

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See also: wort, wòrt, and wört

German

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Etymology

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From Middle High German wort. Compare Dutch woord, English word, Danish ord. Doublet of Verb.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /vɔrt/, [vɔʁt], [ʋ-], [-ɔɐ̯t], [-ɔːt]
  • Audio:(file)
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

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Wort n (strong, genitive Wortes or Worts, plural Wörter or Worte, diminutive Wörtchen n or Wörtlein n)

  1. (plural Wörter) word as an isolated unit
    Im Deutschen gibt es wenig Wörter, die mit y geschrieben werden.
    In German there are few words spelt with y.
  2. (plural Worte) utterance, word with context
    Er erklärte das Problem mit wenigen Worten.
    He explained the problem in few words.
    Keiner wagte dem Wort des Königs zu widersprechen.
    No one dared contradict the king's word.
  3. (uncountable) speech, speaking, (figuratively) floor
    Er beherrscht unsere Sprache in Wort und Schrift.
    He masters our language in speech and writing.
    Der Präsident erteilte dem Abgeordneten das Wort.
    The president gave the delegate the floor.
  4. (uncountable) promise, (figuratively) word
    Ich gebe dir mein Wort, dass ich pünktlich da bin.
    I give you my word that I shall be there on time.
  5. (Christianity) the Word (epithet for Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity)
  6. (biblical) the Word of God, Scripture, the scriptures (collectively)

Usage notes

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  • A clear distinction is usually made in the standard language between the plural forms Wörter and Worte (as above). Note, however, the compound Sprichwort (“proverb”), whose plural is more commonly Sprichwörter rather than the expected Sprichworte. Generally, the distinction is much less clear in colloquial German, where Worte is not seldom heard for sense 1, and Wörter is occasionally heard for sense 2.

Declension

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Declension of Wort [neuter, strong]
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative ein das Wort die Wörter, Worte
genitive eines des Wortes, Worts der Wörter, Worte
dative einem dem Wort, Worte1 den Wörtern, Worten
accusative ein das Wort die Wörter, Worte

1Now rare, see notes.

Derived terms

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Further reading

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  • “Wort” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • “Wort” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • “Wort” in Duden online
  • Friedrich Kluge (1883) “Wort”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891

Hunsrik

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Etymology

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From Middle High German wort.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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Wort n (plural Werter or Worte)

  1. word

Usage notes

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The plural forms are used as mentioned in the entry above.

Derived terms

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Further reading

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