gengilbeina

Icelandic

Etymology

From ganga (“to walk”) +‎ bein (“leg”), literally “[a woman] who travels by foot”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈceiŋcɪlˌpeiːna/

Noun

gengilbeina f (genitive singular gengilbeinu, nominative plural gengilbeinur)

1. a waitress, a female waiter
2. (archaic) a woman who travels by foot
3. (archaic, poetic) an ambátt (female slave)

Usage notes

In modern speech this term can only mean “waitress”, but it is sufficiently rare that many younger speakers are unfamiliar with it. Þjónn is a far more common term.

Declension

Declension of gengilbeina (feminine)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	gengilbeina	gengilbeinan	gengilbeinur	gengilbeinurnar
accusative	gengilbeinu	gengilbeinuna	gengilbeinur	gengilbeinurnar
dative	gengilbeinu	gengilbeinunni	gengilbeinum	gengilbeinunum
genitive	gengilbeinu	gengilbeinunnar	gengilbeina	gengilbeinanna