Ding

See also: ding, díng, dìng, dīng, dǐng, and dìŋ

English

Etymology 1

From the pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 定州 (Dìngzhōu, “Orderly Prefecture”).

Proper noun

Ding

1. (historical) A prefecture of imperial China within present-day Hebei under the Northern Wei, Sui, and Tang dynasties, with its seat at Dingzhou.
2. (historical) A county of Republican China in Hebei Province.

Synonyms

• (prefecture): Dingzhou
• (county): Dingxian

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Mandarin 丁 (Dīng) or Eastern Min 陳 / 陈 (Dĭng).

Alternative forms

• Ting

Proper noun

Ding

1. A surname from Mandarin or Eastern Min.

Translations

Chinese surname (丁)

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 丁 (zh) (Dīng)

• Russian: Динь (Dinʹ)
• Vietnamese: Đinh

German

Etymology

From Middle High German ding, from Old High German thing, from Proto-West Germanic *þing. Compare Low German ding, Dutch ding, English thing, Danish ting.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪŋ/ (most areas)
• IPA^(key): /dɪŋk/ (chiefly northern Germany)

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Ding n (strong, genitive Dinges or Dings, plural Dinge or Dinger, diminutive Dinglein n)

1. thing

   Was ist das für ein Ding? ― What is that thing?

2. (mildly disrespectful) thing; girl; boy (young person)
3. (dated) Thing (historic Germanic council)

   Synonym: Thing

Usage notes

• The plural Dinge means things in general, or different kinds of things:

  Werte sind wichtiger als Dinge. ― Values are more important than things.

  Nahrung, Kleidung und Wohnung sind Dinge, die jeder braucht.

  Food, clothes and a home are things that everyone needs.

• The plural Dinger means several items of one sort of thing:

  Was sind das hier für kleine rote Dinger? ― What are these little red things?

• In formal style, this sense is preferably covered by Gegenstände rather than Dinger. The plural Dinger is also used for the sense “young person”.

Declension

Declension of Ding [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Ding	die	Dinge, Dinger
genitive	eines	des	Dinges, Dings	der	Dinge, Dinger
dative	einem	dem	Ding, Dinge1	den	Dingen, Dingern
accusative	ein	das	Ding	die	Dinge, Dinger

¹Now rare, see notes.

Derived terms

• dinglich
• Dings, Dingens, Dingsbums, Dingsda, Dingenskirchen (placeholder nouns used like English thingy and whatshisname)
• Unding

See also

• Sache
• Zeug
• Gegenstand

Further reading

• “Ding” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Ding (Gegenstand, Vorgang)” in Duden online
• “Ding” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.
• Friedrich Kluge (1883) “Ding”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

From Rhine Franconian [Term?], from Middle High German ding, from Old High German thing, from Proto-West Germanic *þing. Compare German Ding, Dutch ding, English thing, Swedish ting.

Noun

Ding n (plural Dinge)

1. thing

Derived terms

• Dingel

Saterland Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian thing, from Proto-West Germanic *þing. Cognates include West Frisian ding, Dutch ding and German Ding.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɪŋ/
• Hyphenation: Ding
• Rhymes: -ɪŋ

Noun

Ding n (plural Dingere)

1. thing

References

• Marron C. Fort (2015) “Ding”, in Saterfriesisches Wörterbuch mit einer phonologischen und grammatischen Übersicht, Buske, →ISBN