German edit

Etymology edit

From late Middle High German zanken, of unclear origin, not having been recorded in earlier periods. Perhaps from the root of Zinke (prong, sharp point), if the original sense was "to be pointed."[1]

Pronunciation edit

  • (file)

Verb edit

zanken (weak, third-person singular present zankt, past tense zankte, past participle gezankt, auxiliary haben)

  1. (transitive) to dispute
    Synonym: streiten
    Antonym: versöhnen
  2. (transitive, regional) to scold
    Synonym: schimpfen
    Antonym: loben

Conjugation edit

Derived terms edit

References edit

  1. ^ Friedrich Kluge (1883) “zanken”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891

Further reading edit

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