German edit

Etymology edit

From Bund (federation) +‎ -es- +‎ Dorf (village). Literally, "federal village".

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): [ˈbʊndəsˌdɔɐ̯f], [-ˌdɔʁf]

Proper noun edit

Bundesdorf n (proper noun, strong, genitive Bundesdorfs or Bundesdorfes)

  1. (dated, humorous, derogatory) the city of Bonn, former capital of (West) Germany, labelled the “federal village” due to its provincial character and, originally, quite small size

Usage notes edit

  • By 1960 the city had a population of under 140,000. It later grew to its current 300 000+ largely due to annexation of surrounding suburbs, but never lost its provincial character, and hence the nickname, until being replaced as capital by Berlin in 1990/99.

Declension edit