Vormund

German

Etymology

From Middle High German vormunde, from Old High German foramunto, a compound of fora (“before, in front of”, whence German vor) + munt (“hand; protection; guardianship”). In contemporary understanding it is usually reanalysed as vor +‎ Mund (“mouth”, unrelated with the former word), thus “who speaks for someone before they can speak for themselves”; thence also the plural Vormünder.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈfoːrˌmʊnt/, [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌmʊnt], [ˈfɔɐ̯-], [ˈfɔː-]
  • Audio(file)

Noun

Vormund m (strong, genitive Vormundes or Vormunds, plural Vormünder or Vormunde)

  1. legal guardian

Declension
Declension of Vormund [masculine, strong]
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative ein der Vormund die Vormünder, Vormunde
genitive eines des Vormundes, Vormunds der Vormünder, Vormunde
dative einem dem Vormund, Vormunde1 den Vormündern, Vormunden
accusative einen den Vormund die Vormünder, Vormunde

1Now rare, see notes.

Derived terms

Further reading
  • “Vormund” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
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