Scheit

German edit

Etymology edit

From Middle High German schīt, Old High German scīt (“log of wood”). Cognate with West Frisian skīd, Old Norse skíð (“plank; billet; ski”), Old English sċīd, English shide, Ancient Greek σχίζα (skhíza, “splinter”), Latvian skaida (“chip”), Lithuanian skëdrà.^[1] From Proto-Germanic *skīdą. Doublet of Ski.

Pronunciation edit

IPA^(key): /ʃaɪ̯t/
Audio (file)
Homophone: scheid

Noun edit

Scheit (originally) n or (now also) m (strong, genitive Scheits or Scheites, plural Scheite or (alternatively in southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland) Scheiter)

log, billet, stick (of firewood)

Usage notes edit

Most often used in the pleonastic compound Holzscheit.
Originally neuter, but the masculine is now a widely attestable variant.

Declension edit

Declension of Scheit [neuter // masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das, der	Scheit	die	Scheite, Scheiter²
genitive	eines	des	Scheits, Scheites	der	Scheite, Scheiter²
dative	einem	dem	Scheit, Scheite¹	den	Scheiten, Scheitern²
accusative	ein, einen	das, den	Scheit	die	Scheite, Scheiter²

¹Now rare, see notes.
²Alternatively in southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland.

References edit

^ Friedrich Kluge (1883) “Scheit”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891