Bein

== German == === Etymology === From Middle High German bein, from Old High German bein, from Proto-West Germanic *bain, from Proto-Germanic *bainą. Compare Dutch been, English bone, Danish ben. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /baɪ̯n/ Rhymes: -aɪ̯n === Noun === Bein n (strong, genitive Beines or Beins, plural Beine, diminutive Beinchen n) leg of a person, animal, or object (technical, archaic, except in compounds) bone Synonym: Knochen ==== Usage notes ==== In a narrower sense, German Bein excludes the feet, but for the most part it includes them. It can even refer to the feet specifically in some regions where a clothed but barefoot person might hear Du hast ja nichts an den Beinen! (literally “You have nothing on your legs!”) Compare also the phrase wieder auf den Beinen, where English says “back on one’s feet”. The sense of bone is widely obsolete in standard usage, apart from technical usage ("aus Bein geschnitzt"), some common phrases, such as "durch Mark und Bein", and various compounds, such as Schlüsselbein, Elfenbein, Steißbein. ==== Declension ==== ==== Derived terms ==== === Further reading === “Bein”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎[1] (in German) “Bein” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon “Bein” in Duden online “Bein” in OpenThesaurus.de Bein on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia de “Bein” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961. == Low German == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /bɛɪ̯n/, /baɪ̯n/ === Noun === Bein m (plural Beiner or Beinen) (German Low German) alternative form of Been (“leg”) === Noun === Bein n (German Low German) alternative form of Been (“bone”)