Eltern

Phrases

Signification

Concepts

Seine Eltern ließen sich als er
👨

sechs
6

Jahre alt
🧓

war scheiden .

Ses parents ont divorcé à l'âge de six ans.

Fréquence

canton d’Appenzell Rhodes-Intérieures

eltere

canton de Bâle-Campagne

alte

canton de Bâle-Campagne

eltere

canton de Zurich

eltere

Données fournies par : Deutsch-Schweizerdeutsches Wörterbuch

Prononcé comme (IPA)

/ˈɛltərn/

Hérité de moyen haut-allemand

Hérité de ancien haut allemand

Appartenant à néerlandais

Appartenant à anglais

In summary

From Middle High German eltern, from Old High German eltirōn, from Proto-Germanic *alþizô. Compare Dutch ouders, English elders. The form is equivalent to a nominalised comparative of alt (“old”). The according spelling Ältern was common in Early Modern German, but later went out of fashion. Several sources claim that this was due to incomprehension of the etymology, but that seems implausible given its obviousness. An alternative explanation would be the desire to distinguish between Eltern (“parents”) and die Älteren (“older ones, elders”), which latter was commonly spelt Ältern.