Schurke

German

Etymology

16th century, derived from Middle High German schurgen, schürgen (“to shove, push, egg on”), from Old High German scurgen. This verb is related with (but probably not the direct ancestor of) modern schüren (“to stir, stoke up”); compare Old High German fiurscurio (“villain”, literally “he who stokes up fire”). Middle High German schurgen shows Upper German umlaut blocking in -ur- + consonant. This southern origin also partially explains the hardening of -g- to -k-, though the lack of any g-forms in Schurke is peculiar. The noun moreover has little currency in dialects, north or south.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃʊrkə/, [ˈʃʊʁ.kə], [ˈʃʊɐ̯.kə]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Schurke m (weak, genitive Schurken, plural Schurken, feminine Schurkin)

1. (higher register) villain, scoundrel

   Synonyms: Schuft, Bösewicht, Übeltäter, Spitzbube

Declension

Declension of Schurke [masculine, weak]

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

Derived terms

• Schurkenstaat m (“rogue state”)
• Schurkerei
• Superschurke

Descendants

• English: shark, shirk
• Dutch: schurk
• Norwegian Bokmål: skurk
• Norwegian Nynorsk: skurk
• Swedish: skurk

Further reading

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