Grobian

See also: grobian

German

Etymology

Earlier Grobianus, humorously formed from grob (“coarse”) +‎ Latin -iānus. Compare Dummerjan, Liederjan etc.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡʁoːbi̯aːn/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Grobian m (strong, genitive Grobianes or Grobians, plural Grobiane)

1. brute

   Synonyms: Rohling, Rowdy, Rüpel

   • 1819, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “Dem Schenken”, in West-östlicher Divan‎^[1]; republished as Edward Dowden, transl., West-Eastern Divan, 1914:

     Setze mir nicht, du Grobian, / Mir den Krug so derb vor die Nase

     Clown, do not clap the vessel that you bear / In such rough fashion here beneath my nose!

Declension

Declension of Grobian [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Grobian	die	Grobiane
genitive	eines	des	Grobianes, Grobians	der	Grobiane
dative	einem	dem	Grobian, Grobiane1	den	Grobianen
accusative	einen	den	Grobian	die	Grobiane

¹Now rare, see notes.

Descendants

• → English: grobian
• → Norwegian Bokmål: grobian
• → Norwegian Nynorsk: grobian
• → Polish: grubianin
• → Romanian: grobian
• → Russian: грубиян (grubijan)
• → Swedish: grobian

Further reading

• “Grobian” in Duden online
• “Grobian” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Grobian” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.