Pfropfen

See also: pfropfen

German

Alternative forms

• Pfropf (somewhat less common)
• Proppen (in informal compounds; otherwise only colloquial)

Etymology

From Middle Low German proppen, prop, borrowed into East Central German and thence into the standard language (early 18th century). The modern form is a secondary adaptation to the Upper German consonantism, based formally on the verb pfropfen (“to engraft”, eventually from Latin propago), which in Low and Central German had the form proppen, thus identical to the unrelated noun. Cognate with Dutch prop.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpfʁɔpfən/ (standard)
• IPA^(key): /ˈfʁɔpfən/, [ˈfʁɔpɸn̩] (northern and central Germany)
• IPA^(key): /ˈpfʁɔpfɛn/, [ˈpfrɔpfɱ̩] (Southern Germany, Austria, Bavaria)

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Pfropfen m (strong, genitive Pfropfens, plural Pfropfen)

1. (regional) plug; something intended to plug
2. (regional) plug; clot; something that happens to plug

Usage notes

• The normal word for sense 1 is Stöpsel, which cannot be used in sense 2, however. In the latter, Pfropfen is more northern and eastern, while Stopfen is the more southern and western word. The written language prefers Pfropfen.

Declension

Declension of Pfropfen [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Pfropfen	die	Pfropfen
genitive	eines	des	Pfropfens	der	Pfropfen
dative	einem	dem	Pfropfen	den	Pfropfen
accusative	einen	den	Pfropfen	die	Pfropfen

Synonyms

• (plug): Stopfen; Stöpsel
• (clot): Stopfen; Verstopfung

Derived terms

• pfropfen (one of two etymologies)

Further reading

• “Pfropfen” in Duden online
• “Pfropfen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache