Unzucht

German

Etymology

From Middle High German unzuht (“immorality, vulgarity, rudeness”), from Old High German unzuht, by surface analysis, un- +‎ Zucht. Zucht originally means “discipline, education, manners”. Unzucht is derived thence, but was often restricted to the sexual sense already in early modern German. The simplex Zucht only later developed the additional sense “breeding”, with which Unzucht is now secondarily associated (“undue breeding”, as it were).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʊnˌtsʊxt/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Unzucht f (genitive Unzucht, no plural)

1. (also law, now chiefly religion) fornication; adultery; lewdness; promiscuity (any sexual behaviour considered immoral or forbidden)

   Antonym: Keuschheit

   • 1879, Georg Büchner, Woyzeck‎^[1]:

     Dreht euch. wälzt euch! Warum bläst Gott nicht die Sonn aus, daß alles in Unzucht sich übereinanderwälzt, Mann und Weib, Mensch und Vieh?! Tut's am hellen Tag, tut's einem auf den Händen wie die Mücken!

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

Declension of Unzucht [sg-only, feminine]

	singular
	indef.	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Unzucht
genitive	einer	der	Unzucht
dative	einer	der	Unzucht
accusative	eine	die	Unzucht

Derived terms

• unzüchtig
• Unzuchtsparagraph
• widernatürliche Unzucht

Further reading

• “Unzucht” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Unzucht” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Unzucht” in Duden online
• Unzucht on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de