Bundesdorf

German

Etymology

From Bund (“federation”) +‎ -es- +‎ Dorf (“village”). Literally, "federal village".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbʊndəsˌdɔɐ̯f], [-ˌdɔʁf]

Proper noun

Bundesdorf n (proper noun, strong, genitive Bundesdorfs or Bundesdorfes)

1. (dated, humorous, derogatory) the city of Bonn, former capital of (West) Germany, labelled the “federal village” due to its provincial character and, originally, quite small size

Usage notes

• By 1960 the city had a population of under 140,000. It later grew to its current 300 000+ largely due to annexation of surrounding suburbs, but never lost its provincial character, and hence the nickname, until being replaced as capital by Berlin in 1990/99.

Declension

Declension of Bundesdorf [sg-only, neuter, strong]

	singular
	indef.	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Bundesdorf
genitive	eines	des	Bundesdorfs, Bundesdorfes
dative	einem	dem	Bundesdorf, Bundesdorfe1
accusative	ein	das	Bundesdorf

¹Now rare, see notes.