German edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From Middle High German splīzen, from Old High German *splīzan, from Proto-West Germanic *splītan, which see for cognates. Within High German, the word was restricted to Central German, but even here far from general, and therefore did not establish itself in the modern standard language. The nautical sense after Low German splissen, splitzen, a related (but not identical) form.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈʃplaɪ̯sən/
  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: splei‧ßen

Verb edit

spleißen (class 1 strong or weak, third-person singular present spleißt, past tense spliss or spleißte, past participle gesplissen or gespleißt, auxiliary haben)

  1. (rare, of wood, otherwise obsolete) to split
    Synonym: spalten
  2. (nautical) to splice (unite ropes or cables by interweaving the strands)

Usage notes edit

  • Usually strong for “to split” and weak for “to splice”, but occasional variation in both directions is possible.

Conjugation edit

Related terms edit

Further reading edit

  • spleißen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • spleißen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • spleißen” in Duden online
  • spleißen” in OpenThesaurus.de