skön

See also: skon, skoen, and skøn

Swedish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɧøːn/
Rhymes: -øːn
Audio: (file)

Etymology 1

From Old Swedish skön, from Middle Low German schö̂ne, from Old Saxon skōni, from Proto-West Germanic *skaunī, from Proto-Germanic *skauniz (“beautiful, shining”), related to *skuþōną, which yielded skåda (“to watch, to behold”). Compare German schön, English sheen, Danish skøn.

Adjective

skön (comparative skönare, superlative skönast)

(dated, poetic) fair, beautiful
Synonym: vacker

en skön mö
a fair maiden

Spegel, spegel på väggen där, säg vem som skönast i landet är?
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?
(literally, “Mirror, mirror on that wall, tell me: who in the land is the fairest?”)
comfortable, pleasurable
Synonyms: angenäm, mysig

Soffan är skön att sitta i
The sofa is comfortable to sit in

Det är/känns så skönt när du masserar mig
It feels so nice when you give me a massage
(slang) easy-going, cool, funny (charming, usually in a laid-back way)
en skön snubbe
a cool, easy-going guy

Declension

Inflection of **skön**
Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative¹
common singular	skön	skönare	skönast
neuter singular	skönt	skönare	skönast
plural	sköna	skönare	skönast
masculine plural²	sköne	skönare	skönast

Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular³	sköne	skönare	skönaste
all	sköna	skönare	skönaste

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Antonyms

oskön

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Old Swedish skyn, from Old Norse skyn. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Noun

skön n (uncountable)

liking, preference, arbitration
Synonym: gottfinnande

efter eget skön ― according to one's own preference

Declension

Declension of *skön*
		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	skön	sköns
singular	definite	skönet	skönets
plural	indefinite	—	—
plural	definite	—	—

Derived terms

References

skön in Svensk ordbok (SO)
skön in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
skön in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
skön in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)

Anagrams

köns