Schlüssel

German

Etymology

From Middle High German slüzzel, from Old High German sluzzil, from Proto-Germanic *slutilaz, which is derived from Proto-Germanic *sleutaną (“to close”). Cognate to Dutch sleutel and English slot.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈʃlʏsl̩/, /ˈʃlʏsəl/
  • Hyphenation: Schlüs‧sel
  • Audio(file)

Noun

Schlüssel m (genitive Schlüssels, plural Schlüssel)

  1. individual key
    Der Schlüssel passt nicht.
    The key doesn't fit.
    • 1922, Franz Kafka, Das Schloß, Kurt Wolff Verlag (1926), page 241:
      Es war zwar ein großer Holzvorrat in einem Schuppen vorhanden, dieser Schuppen aber war versperrt und den Schlüssel hatte der Lehrer, der eine Entnahme des Holzes nur für das Heizen während der Unterrichtsstunden gestattete.
      There was a large supply of wood available in a shed, but this shed was locked and the key was in the possession of the teacher, who allowed taking from the wood only for the heating during the class hours.
  2. plural of Schlüssel: keys, bunch of keys
    Ich habe meine Schlüssel irgendwo vergessen.
    I left my keys somewhere.
  3. short for certain compounds, such as Schraubenschlüssel (“screw-wrench”) or Notenschlüssel (“clef”)

Declension

Hyponyms

Derived terms

References

Further reading

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