Kirchhof

German edit

Etymology edit

From Middle High German kirchhof (“land around a church”). Analyzable as Kirche (“church”) +‎ Hof (“yard”). The semantic development is determined by Middle Low German kerkhof, which came to mean “graveyard” because graveyards have traditionally tended to be established around churches. Compare the same in Dutch kerkhof (“graveyard”).

Pronunciation edit

IPA^(key): /ˈkɪʁçˌhoːf/
Audio (file)

Noun edit

Kirchhof m (strong, genitive Kirchhofes or Kirchhofs, plural Kirchhöfe)

(dated, regional, Northern Germany) graveyard
Synonym: Friedhof

Declension edit

Declension of Kirchhof [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Kirchhof	die	Kirchhöfe
genitive	eines	des	Kirchhofes, Kirchhofs	der	Kirchhöfe
dative	einem	dem	Kirchhof, Kirchhofe¹	den	Kirchhöfen
accusative	einen	den	Kirchhof	die	Kirchhöfe

¹Now rare, see notes.