Ding
English edit
Etymology 1 edit
From the pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 定州 (Dìngzhōu, “Orderly Prefecture”).
Proper noun edit
Ding
- (historical) A prefecture of imperial China within present-day Hebei under the Northern Wei, Sui, and Tang dynasties, with its seat at Dingzhou.
- (historical) A county of Republican China in Hebei Province.
Synonyms edit
Etymology 2 edit
Borrowed from Mandarin 丁 (Dīng) or Eastern Min 陳/陈 (Dĭng).
Alternative forms edit
Proper noun edit
Ding
- A surname from Mandarin or Eastern Min.
Translations edit
German edit
Etymology edit
From Middle High German ding, from Old High German thing, from Proto-West Germanic *þing. Compare Low German ding, Dutch ding, English thing, Danish ting.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
Ding n (strong, genitive Dinges or Dings, plural Dinge or Dinger, diminutive Dinglein n)
- thing
- Was ist das für ein Ding? ― What is that thing?
- (mildly disrespectful) thing; girl; boy (young person)
- (dated) Thing (historic Germanic council)
- Synonym: Thing
Usage notes edit
- The plural Dinge means things in general, or different kinds of things:
- Werte sind wichtiger als Dinge. ― Values are more important than things.
- Nahrung, Kleidung und Wohnung sind Dinge, die jeder braucht.
- Food, clothes and a home are things that everyone needs.
- The plural Dinger means several items of one sort of thing:
- Was sind das hier für kleine rote Dinger? ― What are these little red things?
- In formal style, this sense is preferably covered by Gegenstände rather than Dinger. The plural Dinger is also used for the sense “young person”.
Declension edit
Derived terms edit
- dinglich
- Dings, Dingens, Dingsbums, Dingsda, Dingenskirchen (placeholder nouns used like English thingy and whatshisname)
- Unding
See also edit
Further reading edit
- “Ding” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “Ding (Gegenstand, Vorgang)” in Duden online
Pennsylvania German edit
Etymology edit
From Rhine Franconian [Term?], from Middle High German ding, from Old High German thing, from Proto-West Germanic *þing. Compare German Ding, Dutch ding, English thing, Swedish ting.
Noun edit
Ding n (plural Dinge)
Derived terms edit
Saterland Frisian edit
Etymology edit
From Old Frisian thing, from Proto-West Germanic *þing. Cognates include West Frisian ding, Dutch ding and German Ding.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
Ding n (plural Dingere)