friemeln
German
editAlternative forms
edit- pfriemeln (less common; unetymological)
Etymology
edit20th century, from Low German and Central Franconian dialects. Cognate to Dutch friemelen (“to fiddle, fidget”). Probably the same as Dutch and Middle Dutch wriemelen (“to move back and forth”, intransitive and transitive), Low German wrimen (“to rub”), with a development from wr- to fr-, which is widespread among dialects of all the relevant languages. Philippa (Etymologisch Woordenboek, 2003-09) casts doubt on this because wriemelen also means “to swarm” (of a collective). This collective sense need not be the oldest, however. In fact, the first attestation has the sense “to move back and forth with exertion” (of a man during sexual intercourse), and the sense “to fiddle, fidget” is attested for the wr-form as well. Philippa prefers to derive friemelen from frommelen (“to fidget”) and this in turn from fommelen (German fummeln). However, frommelen shows variants with wr- as well and is also regionally more restricted.
Pronunciation
editVerb
editfriemeln (weak, third-person singular present friemelt, past tense friemelte, past participle gefriemelt, auxiliary haben)
- to fiddle; to move something in one's hands, especially by rubbing it between thumb and forefinger
- Er friemelte nervös an seinem Ohrläppchen. ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
- Sie friemelt immer mit den herumliegenden Stoffresten. ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
- (by extension) to do delicate manual tasks, such as inserting a thread through the eye of a needle or undoing a tangle, implying either laboriousness of the task or clumsiness of them who do it
- Ich musste ganz schön friemeln, um das auseinanderzukriegen. ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
Conjugation
editinfinitive | friemeln | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
present participle | friemelnd | ||||
past participle | gefriemelt | ||||
auxiliary | haben | ||||
indicative | subjunctive | ||||
singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
present | ich friemle ich friemele ich friemel |
wir friemeln | i | ich friemele ich friemle |
wir friemeln |
du friemelst | ihr friemelt | du friemelest du friemlest |
ihr friemelet ihr friemlet | ||
er friemelt | sie friemeln | er friemele er friemle |
sie friemeln | ||
preterite | ich friemelte | wir friemelten | ii | ich friemelte1 | wir friemelten1 |
du friemeltest | ihr friemeltet | du friemeltest1 | ihr friemeltet1 | ||
er friemelte | sie friemelten | er friemelte1 | sie friemelten1 | ||
imperative | friemle (du) friemel (du) friemele (du) |
friemelt (ihr) |
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Derived terms
editFurther reading
edit- “friemeln” in Duden online