Wort

See also: wort, wòrt, and wört

GermanEdit

Wort n (strong, genitive Wortes or Worts, plural Wörter or Worte, diminutive Wörtchen n or Wörtlein n)

(plural Wörter) word as an isolated unit
Im Deutschen gibt es wenig Wörter, die mit y geschrieben werden.
In German there are few words spelt with y.
(plural Worte) utterance, word with context
Er erklärte das Problem mit wenigen Worten.
He explained the problem in few words.

Keiner wagte dem Wort des Königs zu widersprechen.
No one dared contradict the king's word.
(uncountable) speech, speaking, (figuratively) floor
Er beherrscht unsere Sprache in Wort und Schrift.
He masters our language in speech and writing.

Der Präsident erteilte dem Abgeordneten das Wort.
The president gave the delegate the floor.
(uncountable) promise, (figuratively) word
Ich gebe dir mein Wort, dass ich pünktlich da bin.
I give you my word that I shall be there on time.
(Christianity) the Word (epithet for Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity)
(biblical) the Word of God, Scripture, the scriptures (collectively)

A clear distinction is usually made in the standard language between the plural forms Wörter and Worte (as above). Note, however, the compound Sprichwort (“proverb”), whose plural is more commonly Sprichwörter rather than the expected Sprichworte. Generally, the distinction is much less clear in colloquial German, where Worte is not seldom heard for sense 1, and Wörter is occasionally heard for sense 2.

Declension of Wort [neuter, strong]