genug

German

Alternative forms

  • genung, gnung (archaic, dialectal)

Etymology

From Old High German ginuog, from Proto-Germanic *ganōgaz. Cognate with Dutch genoeg, Low German noog, English enough, West Frisian genôch, Danish nok, Swedish nog. The Proto-Germanic word is a compound of the prefix *ga- + unattested *nōgaz. The latter may be derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂neḱ- (“to reach, achieve, carry out”).

Further Indo-European cognates: Latin nancisci (“to get, to abtain”), Slovene nesti (“to carry”), Albanian kënaq (“to satisfy”)

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɡəˈnuːk/ (standard)
  • IPA(key): /ɡəˈnʊx/ (in northern and central Germany; chiefly colloquial)
  • Audio(file)
  • Rhymes: -uːk

Determiner

genug

  1. (invariable) enough, sufficient, an adequate number or amount of
    Wir haben nicht genug Geld.
    We don't have enough money.

Usage notes

  • Genug can never follow an article or another determiner. Moreover, it is rather often used after the referent for emphasis: Die haben Geld genug! (“They have money enough!”)

Pronoun

genug

  1. (invariable) enough, an adequate number or amount
    Das ist genug.
    That's enough.

Adverb

genug

  1. enough, sufficiently, in an adequate way
    Die Kinder haben genug gespielt.
    The children have played enough.

Usage notes

  • Genug can be followed and preceded by a genitive as in genug der Worte, rarer der Worte genug.

Interjection

genug!

  1. enough!
    Genug! Hör auf mit diesem Unsinn! — Enough! Quit this nonsense!

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Further reading

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