Grille
German edit
Etymology edit
From Middle High German grille, from Old High German grillo, probably from Latin gryllus (“grasshopper, cricket”), possibly onomatopoetic in origin, but perhaps borrowed in turn from Ancient Greek γρύλλος (grúllos, “Egyptian dance performer; painted caricature”), of unknown further origin.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
Grille f (genitive Grille, plural Grillen)
- cricket (insect of the family Gryllidae)
- whim, strange thought, freakish or fantastical idea
- Synonym: Marotte
- 1924, Thomas Mann, Der Zauberberg [The Magic Mountain], volume 2, Berlin: S. Fischer, page 487:
- Der Hofrat ging ihm gelegentlich zur Hand bei solchem schwermütigen Getändel, bestärkte ihn überhaupt in seiner Grille.
- Occasionally the councilor gave him a hand in such melancholy dealings, and in general encouraged him in his quirk.
- 2017 March 2, Michael Allmaier, “Du bist, was du liest”, in Die Zeit[1]:
- Friederike Schultz, 37, ist es gewohnt, dass Kollegen sie “als Außerirdische betrachten”. Bibliophilie kennt man als eine Grille älterer Männer.
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- (dated) spleen, melancholy
Declension edit
Declension of Grille [feminine]
See also edit
Further reading edit
- “Grille” in Duden online
- “Grille” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “Grille” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.