Draht

German

Etymology

From Middle High German drāt (“wire, thread”), from Old High German drāt, thrāt, from Proto-West Germanic *þrādu, from Proto-Germanic *þrēduz, from Proto-Indo-European *treh₁-tu-, from *terh₁- (“rub, twist”). Related with drehen (“to turn, twist”), with which it was still associated in early modern German, as is proved by the insertion of the lengthening -h- (which is only used before sonorants or stem-finally). Cognate with Dutch draad, Low German Draat, English thread, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish tråd, Icelandic þráður.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʁaːt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Draht
• Rhymes: -aːt

Noun

Draht m (strong, genitive Drahtes or Drahts, plural Drähte, diminutive Drähtchen n)

1. wire (thread of metal; conductor)
2. (obsolete) thread

Declension

Declension of Draht [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Draht	die	Drähte
genitive	eines	des	Drahtes, Drahts	der	Drähte
dative	einem	dem	Draht, Drahte1	den	Drähten
accusative	einen	den	Draht	die	Drähte

¹Now rare, see notes.

Synonyms

• (thread): Faden

Derived terms

• drahtig
• drahtlos
• einen guten Draht zu jemandem haben
• verdrahten

 

Related terms

• Drahtbrücke
• Drahtesel
• Drahtseil
• Drahtsieb
• Drahtzaun
• Drahtzieher
• Eisendraht
• Golddraht
• Kaninchendraht
• Kupferdraht
• Maschendraht
• Nanodraht
• Nato-Draht
• Silberdraht
• Stacheldraht

 

Descendants

• → Hungarian: drót
• → Polish: drut (“wire, knitting needle”)

Further reading

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