Lump

See also: lump

German

Etymology

Originally the same as Lumpen (“rag, tatter”), later distinguished in form.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

(more standard) Lump m (weak or strong, genitive (more standard) Lumpen or (more common in general usage) Lumps, plural (more standard) Lumpen or (more common in general usage) Lumpe)

1. cad (mean, ignoble, or dirty male person)

Usage notes

• Lump may be declined according to the strong or weak pattern. The former is more originally standard, the latter more common in general usage.
• The word is quite frequent in southern Germany and Austria; elsewhere it is not often heard.

Declension

Declension of Lump [masculine, weak // strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Lump1	die	Lumpen1, Lumpe2
genitive	eines	des	Lumpen1, Lumps2	der	Lumpen1, Lumpe2
dative	einem	dem	Lumpen1, Lump2	den	Lumpen1
accusative	einen	den	Lumpen1, Lump2	die	Lumpen1, Lumpe2

¹More standard.
²More common in general usage.

Descendants

• Czech: lump
• Polish: lump

Further reading

• “Lump” in Duden online
• “Lump” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache