Häuptling

German

Etymology

From Old Frisian hāvdling (“high member of the nobility”), probably via Middle Low German [Term?]. By surface analysis, Haupt +‎ -ling. The umlaut is probably due to the northern origin of the word and derives from the earlier Central German variant Häupt, though it might also be due to analogy with other words in -ling. The word was first adopted in the sense of "patriarch, family leader", but was transferred and soon restricted to the ethnological sense of "chief" in the 19th century (as a loose equivalent of the English word).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈhɔʏ̯p(t).lɪŋ/
Audio: (file)

Noun

Häuptling m (strong, genitive Häuptlings or Häuptlinges, plural Häuptlinge)

chief (leader or co-leader of a tribe)
(historical) high member of the Frisian nobility
(humorous) leader of some other kind
(obsolete) patriarch (leader of a family)

Declension

Declension of Häuptling [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Häuptling	die	Häuptlinge
genitive	eines	des	Häuptlings, Häuptlinges	der	Häuptlinge
dative	einem	dem	Häuptling, Häuptlinge¹	den	Häuptlingen
accusative	einen	den	Häuptling	die	Häuptlinge

¹Now rare, see notes.