gediegen

German

Etymology

From Middle High German gedigen (mature, nourishing, capable), from Old High German gidigan, githigan; originally the past participle of gedeihen[1] (with Grammatischer Wechsel), making it a doublet of the modern, leveled past participle gediehen.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɡəˈdiːɡŋ̍/
  • Audio (Germany (Berlin)):(file)
  • Audio (Germany (Berlin)):(file)
  • Hyphenation: ge‧die‧gen

Adjective

gediegen (strong nominative masculine singular gediegener, comparative gediegener, superlative am gediegensten)

  1. (mining) pure, unadulterated, sterling, solid, native (of a metal)
    Synonyms: elementar, rein
    Kupfer kommt gediegen nur selten in der Natur vor.
    Copper very rarely occurs in pure form in nature.
  2. (higher register) solid, high-quality, well-made
    Synonyms: solide, qualitativ hochwertig
    Das ist ein gediegener Schmuck.
    That's a quality piece of jewelry.
  3. (dated) solid, reliable, good
    Synonyms: solide, zuverlässig
    Er ist ein gediegener Charakter; ich kenne wenige, auf die man sich so verlassen kann.
    He's a solid guy; I don't know many people who can be counted on like he can.
  4. (Northern Germany, colloquial) odd, strange, peculiar, weird
    Synonyms: komisch, seltsam, eigenartig
    Er hat manchmal so'n büschen gediegene Ansichten.
    He's got kinda weird opinions sometimes.

Declension

Derived terms

References

  1. ^ gediegen” in Duden online

Further reading

  • gediegen” in Duden online
  • gediegen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache