Regenwurm

German

Etymology

From Middle High German regenwurm, from Old High German reganwurm, from Proto-Germanic [Term?]. Analysable as Regen (“rain”) +‎ Wurm (“worm”), so called because of the animal’s habit of surfacing after rainfall. Cognate with Old English reġnwyrm, whence English rainworm.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈreːɡənˌvʊrm/, [ˈʁeːɡŋ̍ˌʋʊɐ̯m]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Re‧gen‧wurm

Noun

Regenwurm m (strong, genitive Regenwurmes or Regenwurms, plural Regenwürmer)

1. earthworm

Declension

Declension of Regenwurm [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Regenwurm	die	Regenwürmer
genitive	eines	des	Regenwurmes, Regenwurms	der	Regenwürmer
dative	einem	dem	Regenwurm, Regenwurme1	den	Regenwürmern
accusative	einen	den	Regenwurm	die	Regenwürmer

¹Now rare, see notes.

Further reading

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