Zotte

German

Etymology

From Middle High German zote with ideophonic gemination of t > tt, from Old High German zota (alongside zata and zoto m, zato), from Proto-Germanic *tadǭ (“tousled mass”) (whence also English tod (“bush, flock”), Old Norse taða (“manured meadow”)), from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂-tós, a participial form of *deh₂- (“to split, cut, divide”). The form shows Upper German hindrance of lengthening before -t- (as predominantly in Modern German); a Central German doublet is Zote (“dirty joke”), which see.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡sɔtə/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Zotte f (genitive Zotte, plural Zotten)

1. a flock of hair or fur clotted by moisture, dirt etc.

   Synonym: Zottel

   Der Eisbär stieg aus dem Wasser und schüttelte seine nassen Zotten.

   The polar bear got out of the water and shook his wet fur.

   • 1883–1885, Friedrich Nietzsche, “Von den berühmten Weisen”, in Also sprach Zarathustra […] [Thus Spoke Zarathustra]‎^[2], Zweiter Theil:

     Das Fell des Raubthiers, das buntgefleckte, und die Zotten des Forschenden, Suchenden, Erobernden!

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

Declension of Zotte [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Zotte	die	Zotten
genitive	einer	der	Zotte	der	Zotten
dative	einer	der	Zotte	den	Zotten
accusative	eine	die	Zotte	die	Zotten

Derived terms

• Zottel
• zottig, zottelig

Further reading

• “Zotte” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.