sönder

See also: sonder and sonder-

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish sundr, from Proto-Germanic *sundraz, from Proto-Indo-European *sn̥Hter-.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

sönder

1. (predicative only) broken, out of order

   Synonym: trasig

   Datorn är sönder. Den startar inte.

   The computer is broken. It won't start.

Adverb

sönder (not comparable)

1. into a broken or destroyed state

   Motorn gick sönder

   The engine broke

   Hon hade sönder datorn genom att köra fel kommando

   She broke the computer by running the wrong command

   Hon slog sönder datorn

   She smashed the computer

   Hon rev sönder kontraktet

   She ripped up the contract

   Hon sparkade sönder lampan

   She kicked out the light

Usage notes

The primary notion is being (or being made) broken or destroyed, whether demolished, torn up, shattered, through malfunction, or in some other way. Coming apart is not inherent in the word, despite the English (near) cognate asunder. Shades of disintegration appear in some compounds, like sönderdela and sönderfall, as well as in söndra.

Derived terms

• sönder och samman

See also

• isär (“apart, asunder”)
• itu (“in two”)

Further reading

• sönder in Svensk ordbok.
• sönder in Reverso Context (Swedish-English)

Anagrams

• drösen, nöders