stängsel

Swedish

ett hål i ett stängsel [a hole in a (chain-link) fence]

Etymology

stänga +‎ -sel

Noun

stängsel n

1. a fence (now most commonly a chain-link or other wire fence)

Usage notes

In contemporary Swedish, a stängsel is most commonly a chain-link or other wire fence, while other fences are staket or plank. A staket is usually made of wood, but can also be for example a wrought-iron fence (smidesstaket). A staket is often found around a residential property, while a stängsel is often used as a barrier elsewhere. A more classical or technical distinction might be that a stängsel forms an enclosure (compare stänga (“close”)), often for animals, while a staket often serves more to mark a boundary. For many native speakers, the intuition is now likely more about the construction of the fence.

Declension

Declension of stängsel
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	stängsel	stängslet	stängsel	stängslen
Genitive	stängsels	stängslets	stängsels	stängslens

Related terms

• stängselstolpe

See also

• plank
• staket

References

• stängsel in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• stängsel in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• stängsel in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)