Geißel
See also: Geissel
German edit
Alternative forms edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Middle High German geisel(e), from Old High German geisila (“whip”). Cognate with Dutch gesel. The spelling with -ß- reflects sporadic devoicing; compare the frequent pronunciations of niesen or Preiselbeere. Its use for distinguishing between Geißel and Geisel (“hostage”) is an arbitrary convention, which fully established itself only around 1900. (The two words are not related but became merged in Early Modern German.)
Noun edit
Geißel f (genitive Geißel, plural Geißeln)
- (Southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland) Synonym of Peitsche (“whip”)
- (elsewhere only) scourge (whip used for flagellation)
- (figurative) scourge (persistent source of harm, especially when seen as divine punishment)
- Synonyms: Plage, Heimsuchung
- (biology) flagellum
Declension edit
Declension of Geißel [feminine]
Derived terms edit
Etymology 2 edit
See the main lemma.
Noun edit
Geißel f (genitive Geißel, plural Geißeln) or
Geißel m (strong, genitive Geißels, plural Geißel)
- Obsolete form (now misspelling) of Geisel (“hostage”)