German edit

Etymology edit

Ca. 1930, from Brand (fire, burning) +‎ neu (neu), after English brand new (originally “fresh from the fire”, as of a piece of metal).

It is possible that German Brand goes back to phono-semantic matching of English brand rather than true loan translation, seeing that the archaic sense “fire” is not widely known among German learners of English. This would mean that the original sense of the English construct was unconsciously and, in a sense, accidentally reproduced in German.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈbʁantˈnɔʏ̯/
  • (file)

Adjective edit

brandneu (strong nominative masculine singular brandneuer, comparative (very rare) brandneuer, superlative am brandneuesten or am brandneusten)

  1. (colloquial) brand new
    Synonym: nagelneu
    Hast du schon mein brandneues Auto gesehen?
    Have you seen my brand new car yet?
    Der Computer ist brandneu.
    The computer is brand new.

Declension edit

Further reading edit