Fräulein - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (2024)

German[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Middle High German vrouwelīn (“mistress, young unmarried noblewoman”), equivalent to Frau +‎ -lein

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ˈfʁɔɪ̯laɪ̯n/ (standard)
• IPA^(key): /ˈfʁɔlaɪ̯n/ (colloquially, especially northern and central Germany)

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪ̯n

Noun[edit]

Fräuleinn (strong, genitive Fräuleins, plural Fräuleins or Fräulein)

1. Diminutive of Frau (but not freely applicable)
2. (dated, address for an unmarried woman) miss

   Guten Morgen, Fräulein Schmitz! ― Good morning, Miss Schmitz!

3. miss, young woman (especially a shop assistant)

   Würden Sie mir kurz helfen, junges Fräulein! ― Would you help me please, miss!

4. young lady, missy (said jokingly or rebukingly to a little girl)

   So, jetzt reicht's aber, Fräulein! ― All right, that's enough, young lady!

5. (obsolete) A female animal or person

Usage notes[edit]

• Fräulein as a formal address for an unmarried woman is now uncommon and considered disrespectful and sexist by some. Frau is the normal address for all women.
• As an informal address for a girl or young woman whose name one does not know, particularly a shop assistant, the word is still fairly common, though chiefly restricted to older speakers. It is generally advised that it be replaced by Frau in all instances.

Declension[edit]

Descendants[edit]

• → English: fraulein, Fraulein
• → Esperanto: fraŭlino
• → Georgian: ფრეილინა (preilina)
• → Kashubian: frélëna
• → Russian: фро́йляйн (frójljajn), фре́йлина (frɛ́jlina)
• → Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic script: фра̏јла

  Latin script: frȁjla

Further reading[edit]

• “Fräulein” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Fräulein” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Fräulein” in Duden online
• Fräulein on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de

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