Wiktionary

Einstein

See also: einstein

English edit

 
Albert Einstein

Etymology edit

Borrowed from German Einstein.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈaɪnstaɪn/, /ˈaɪnʃtaɪn/
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • Rhymes: -aɪn

Proper noun edit

Einstein (plural Einsteins)

  1. Albert Einstein, the world-famous 20th-century theoretical physicist who developed the theory of relativity.
    • 1919 November 10, “LIGHTS ALL ASKEW IN THE HEAVENS”, in New York Times‎[1]:
      Men of Science More or Less Agog Over Results of Eclipse Observations.
      EINSTEIN THEORY TRIUMPHS
      Stars Not Where They Seemed or Were Calculated to be, but Nobody Need Worry.
      A BOOK FOR 12 WISE MEN
      No More in All the World Could Comprehend it, Said Einstein When His Daring Publishers Accepted it.
    • 1977, James Taylor (lyrics and music), “Secret O' Life”, in JT, Columbia Records:
      Einstein said he could never understand it all / Planets spinning through space
    • 1993, Steve Martin, Picasso at the Lapin Agile:
      Gaston: Picasso, Einstein, Schmendiman. Somehow it doesn't have a ring.
    • 1996 December, Gary Andrew Poole, “Qua”, in Wired‎[2], →ISSN:
      We're sitting in a coffee shop in Sunnyvale, California. It's late. I've had a few beers, and my dinner date has downed a few plum wines. I peer deep into his eyes, trying to figure out why so many people throughout the high tech universe think Henry Massalin could be the Einstein of our time.
    • 2000 January 22, Listener Limerick Challenge: Wait, Wait...Don’t Tell Me!, spoken by Carl Kasell, via National Public Radio:
      If Einstein, my dear / Were a toll booth cashier / I imagine he too would be [bored]
  2. A surname from German.

Derived terms edit

Translations edit

Statistics edit

  • According to the 2010 United States Census, Einstein is the 34390th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 659 individuals. Einstein is most common among White (94.54%) individuals.

Noun edit

Einstein (plural Einsteins)

  1. (sometimes sarcastic) An extremely clever or intelligent person.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:know-it-all
    Can you believe he's just a kindergartener? It looks like they've got an Einstein in the family.
    Good job, Einstein, thinking you could grab the wires with your pliers.

Synonyms edit

Anagrams edit

German edit

Etymology edit

The surname is habitational, from any of various places named with a Middle High German derivative of einsteinen ("to enclose or surround with stone");[1] see ein-, Stein, and -en. The "an extremely intelligent person" sense is an eponym of Albert Einstein.

Pronunciation edit

Proper noun edit

Einstein m or f (proper noun, surname, masculine genitive Einsteins or (with an article) Einstein, feminine genitive Einstein, plural Einsteins)

  1. a surname, notably of Albert Einstein

Declension edit

Declension of Einstein [masculine // feminine, surname]
singular plural
masculine feminine
indef. def. noun indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative (ein) (der) Einstein (eine) (die) Einstein (die) Einsteins
genitive (eines) (des) Einsteins, Einstein1 (einer) (der) Einstein (der) Einsteins
dative (einem) (dem) Einstein (einer) (der) Einstein (den) Einsteins
accusative (einen) (den) Einstein (eine) (die) Einstein (die) Einsteins

1With an article.

Noun edit

Einstein m

  1. An extremely intelligent person.

Synonyms edit

  • Columbo (a person stating the obvious)

References edit

  1. ^ Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Einstein”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 1, New York City: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 518:
    1. German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name from any of various places named with a Middle High German derivative of einsteinen ‘to enclose or surround with stone’. In the unsettled social climate of the Middle Ages even relatively minor settlements were commonly surrounded with stone walls as a defense against attack. 2. Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name composed of German ein ‘one’ + Stein ‘stone’.

Further reading edit

Polish edit

 
Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Etymology edit

Borrowed from German Einstein.

Pronunciation edit

Proper noun edit

Einstein m pers

  1. (physics) Albert Einstein

Declension edit

Declension of Einstein
singular
nominative Einstein
genitive Einsteina
dative Einsteinowi
accusative Einsteina
instrumental Einsteinem
locative Einsteinie
vocative Einsteinie

Derived terms edit

nouns

Further reading edit

Portuguese edit

Etymology edit

Unadapted borrowing from German Einstein.

Pronunciation edit

Proper noun edit

Einstein m or f by sense

  1. Einstein (Albert Einstein, German theoretical physicist)
  2. a surname from German

Noun edit

Einstein m (invariable)

  1. an Einstein (an extremely intelligent or wise person)
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