Meaning

  1. pretty, handsome
  2. lovely, nice; great

Frequency

A2
Dialects

Basel-Landschaft

Basel-Landschaft

gnufflig

Basel-Landschaft

Basel-Landschaft

nätt

Basel-Landschaft

Basel-Landschaft

schatzig

Data provided by: Deutsch-Schweizerdeutsches Wörterbuch

Pronounced as (IPA)
/hʏpʃ/
Etymology

In summary

From Middle High German hübesch (“courtly”), from the root of modern Hof (“court”). Cognate with Yiddish היפּש (hipsh). The term was probably borrowed into written Middle High German from Middle Dutch hovesch via West Central German, in which process the Central German -v- was hypercorrectly replaced with -b-. The somewhat younger Middle High German hövesch, in line with hof (“court”), led to modern höfisch (“courtly”). For the semantic and phonetic development of this complex compare also Dutch hoofs (“courtly”) and heus (“polite; genuine”), Ripuarian Central Franconian höösch (“careful, slow”).

Notes

Sign in to write sticky notes