schleifen

== German == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈʃlaɪ̯fən/, [ˈʃlaɪ̯.fɱ̍], [-f(ə)n] Hyphenation: schlei‧fen Homophone: Schleifen === Etymology 1 === From Middle High German slīfen (strong verb), from Old High German slīfan, from Proto-West Germanic *slīpan, from Proto-Germanic *slīpaną (“to slide, to whet”). The strong verb was restricted in Modern German to the sense “whet”, the sense “slide” was redistributed to the weak verb (etymology 2), although the split is not entirely clear-cut in practice (see usage notes below). This development was reinforced by the graphic (and later phonetic) merger, but is not conditional on it (cf. the same in Dutch slijpen and dialectal German verb pairs). ==== Verb ==== schleifen (class 1 strong, third-person singular present schleift, past tense schliff, past participle geschliffen, auxiliary haben) to whet, grind (smooth and/or sharpen a surface by abrasion) Synonyms: wetzen, abziehen (figurative) to drill, train, especially in a vexatious manner Synonym: drillen ===== Usage notes ===== In the figurative sense, weak conjugation is also encountered. ===== Conjugation ===== ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Descendants ===== → Esperanto: ŝlifi === Etymology 2 === From Middle High German sleifen (weak verb), from Old High German *sleifen, from Proto-West Germanic *slaipijan (“to cause to slide, to drag”), originally causative of etymology 1 above. Doublet of schleppen, from Middle Low German slêpen. Also cognate with Dutch slepen. ==== Verb ==== schleifen (weak, third-person singular present schleift, past tense schleifte, past participle geschleift, auxiliary haben or sein) (intransitive) to drag, to move across a surface, to slide heavily (transitive) to drag, pull (something) across a surface without lifting it (or lifting it for brief moments only) (transitive, figuratively) to drag (take someone to a place by force or persuasion) (transitive) to raze, to tear down (e.g., a building, a wall, etc.) ===== Usage notes ===== The auxiliary haben is possible in all contexts. In intransitive use, sein is possible alternatively. Strong conjugation is nonstandard for these senses, but is somewhat common in the vernacular, especially when the object is one that could cause abrasion on the surface over which it is dragged (this then creating a semantic connection with etymology 1). ===== Conjugation ===== ===== Alternative forms ===== schleipfen (Upper German, obsolete) ===== Derived terms ===== === Further reading === “schleifen”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎[1] (in German) “schleifen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon “schleifen (drillen, wetzen, gleiten)” in Duden online “schleifen (ziehen, zerstören, gehen)” in Duden online “schleifen” in OpenThesaurus.de