albern

== German == === Etymology === From Middle High German alwære, from Old High German alawāri (“friendly, good-natured”), from a compound of Proto-Germanic *allaz (“all”) + *wēraz (“true; friendly”). The final -n is an original case ending that was added to the stem in German Low German territory (compare schüchtern). Close cognate with Gothic 𐌰𐌻𐌻𐌰𐍅𐌴𐍂𐌴𐌹 (allawērei, “sincerity, simplicity”); for a similar semantic association between "silliness" and "friendliness", compare the unrelated English nice. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈalbərn/, [ˈʔalbɐn], [ˈʔälb̥ɐn] (most of Germany, some of Austria) IPA(key): /ˈalbərn/, [ˈʔɑlb̥ərn], [ˈʔälb̥ərn], [ˈʔälb̥ɛrn] (Switzerland, some of Austria) === Adjective === albern (strong nominative masculine singular alberner, comparative alberner, superlative am albernsten) goofy, silly, childish (inappropriately funny) ==== Declension ==== ==== Derived terms ==== Albernheit === Further reading === “albern” in Duden online “albern” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache