Sintflut

German

Alternative forms

• Sündflut (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle High German sinvluot, sintvluot, from Old High German sinfluot, sintfluot, from sin- (“great, eternal”, prefix) + fluot (“flood”), whence modern German Flut. The variant Sündflut is due to association with Sünde (“sin”), as also in cognate Dutch zondvloed. The i-form was almost fully obsolete for 200 years, until it was revived in the early 19th century after the scientific study of Middle High German. During the 20th century, it re-established itself in general use.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈzɪn(t)ˌfluːt/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Sintflut f (genitive Sintflut, plural Sintfluten)

1. (religion) Deluge, the Great Flood.
2. (figurative) deluge (heavy rain)
3. (figurative) deluge (a great or overwhelming flood of anything, abstract or material)

   eine Sintflut von Anfragen ― a deluge of requests

Declension

Declension of Sintflut [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Sintflut	die	Sintfluten
genitive	einer	der	Sintflut	der	Sintfluten
dative	einer	der	Sintflut	den	Sintfluten
accusative	eine	die	Sintflut	die	Sintfluten

Derived terms

• nach mir die Sintflut
• sintflutartig
• vorsintflutlich

Further reading

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