Zopf

German

Zopf bread (2)

Etymology

From Middle High German zopf, from Old High German zoph (“lock”). Cognate to German Topp, Dutch top, English top.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t͡sɔpf/, [tsɔpf], [tsɔpɸ]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Zopf m (strong, genitive Zopfes or Zopfs, plural Zöpfe)

1. plait; pigtail; ponytail (any long bundle of hair, braided or not)
2. (baking) A plait-shaped bread made from white flour, milk, eggs, butter and yeast.

   Hyponyms: Hefezopf, Mohnzopf

   Coordinate term: Brioche

Usage notes

• Some speakers may consider it more correct to include only braided plaits in the term, but this is by no means the general rule.

Declension

Declension of Zopf [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Zopf	die	Zöpfe
genitive	eines	des	Zopfes, Zopfs	der	Zöpfe
dative	einem	dem	Zopf, Zopfe1	den	Zöpfen
accusative	einen	den	Zopf	die	Zöpfe

¹Now rare, see notes.

Derived terms

• bezopft

Descendants

• → Czech: cop
• → Hungarian: copf

Further reading

• “Zopf” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Zopf” in Duden online
• Zopf (Brot) on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de