German

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle High German sūmeselic. Equivalent to obsolete Saumsal (neglect, tardiness) +‎ -ig; the former from säumen (older also saumen) + -sal. Now sometimes associated with unrelated selig (happy, carefree), thus “neglect-happy” as it were.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈzaʊ̯mˌzeːlɪç/ (standard)
    • Audio:(file)
  • IPA(key): /-ˌzeːlɪk/ (common form in southern Germany, Austria, and Switzerland)
  • Hyphenation: saum‧se‧lig

Adjective

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saumselig (strong nominative masculine singular saumseliger, comparative saumseliger, superlative am saumseligsten)

  1. (dated, higher register) tardy, dilatory, delinquent
    Synonym: säumig

Declension

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Derived terms

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