Knabe
German edit
Etymology edit
From Middle High German knabe, from Old High German knabo, chnabo, from Proto-West Germanic *knabō.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
Knabe m (weak, genitive Knaben, plural Knaben, diminutive Knäbchen n or Knäblein n or Knäbelein n)
- (dated, now literary, humorous or Southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland and US) knave, boy, lad
- 1782, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Erlkönig:
- Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem Arm
- He holdeth the boy tightly clasp'd in his arm
- Edgar Alfred Bowring, The Poems of Goethe Translated in the Original Metres
Usage notes edit
- Knabe used to be the most common term for “boy” until about 1930.[1] As the word was restricted to written style and had no basis in any regional dialects, it has since been replaced with more native Junge (throughout the language area) or Bube (alternatively in southern Germany and Austria).
- It still occurs in compounds such as Prügelknabe and Chorknabe.
Declension edit
Declension of Knabe [masculine, weak]
Derived terms edit
- Chorknabe m (“choirboy”)
- Musterknabe (“goody-goody”)
- Prügelknabe m (“whipping boy”)