piekfein

German

Etymology

From Low German püükfien, tautological compound of püük + fien, both roughly “excellent, fine, clean, honest”.

The former is a borrowing from Dutch puik, from Middle Dutch puuc, from Old Dutch *puiken, from Proto-West Germanic *pūka, *pūga, from Pre-Germanic *pūkk, of uncertain origin, possibly Proto-Indo-European *buk-, *bu-, *beu- (“to blow, swell”), assuming an original sense of "bag made from skin."[1][2] The latter is from Old French fin, cognate with German fein, English fine.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈpiːkˈfaɪ̯n/
  • Audio(file)

Adjective

piekfein (strong nominative masculine singular piekfeiner, not comparable)

  1. (informal, often mildly derogatory, otherwise dated) posh; fancy
    Hau! Du siehst ja piekfein aus!
    Wow! You’re looking posh! (dated)
    Die haben uns da in ein piekfeines Restaurant eingeladen.
    They invited us to a mighty fancy restaurant. (somewhat impressed, but also dismissive)

Declension
Positive forms of piekfein (uncomparable)
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter
predicative er ist piekfein sie ist piekfein es ist piekfein sie sind piekfein
strong declension
(without article)		 nominative piekfeiner piekfeine piekfeines piekfeine
genitive piekfeinen piekfeiner piekfeinen piekfeiner
dative piekfeinem piekfeiner piekfeinem piekfeinen
accusative piekfeinen piekfeine piekfeines piekfeine
weak declension
(with definite article)		 nominative der piekfeine die piekfeine das piekfeine die piekfeinen
genitive des piekfeinen der piekfeinen des piekfeinen der piekfeinen
dative dem piekfeinen der piekfeinen dem piekfeinen den piekfeinen
accusative den piekfeinen die piekfeine das piekfeine die piekfeinen
mixed declension
(with indefinite article)		 nominative ein piekfeiner eine piekfeine ein piekfeines (keine) piekfeinen
genitive eines piekfeinen einer piekfeinen eines piekfeinen (keiner) piekfeinen
dative einem piekfeinen einer piekfeinen einem piekfeinen (keinen) piekfeinen
accusative einen piekfeinen eine piekfeine ein piekfeines (keine) piekfeinen

Descendants
  • → Dutch: piekfijn

References
  1. Kroonen, Guus (2013) “puka”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 400
  2. Kroonen, G. (2009). Consonant and Vowel Gradation in the Proto-Germanic n-Stems. PhD dissertation, University of Leiden, p. 126-127
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