Vergissmeinnicht
/fərˈɡɪsmaɪ̯(n)ˌnɪç(t)/ · noun
Meaning
- forget-me-not (plant)
Etymology / origin
Univerbation of vergiss + mein + nicht, literally “forget me not”. The flower is considered a symbol of loyalty, friendship and remembrance. The verb vergessen used to be used with the object in the genitive case, using mein as the now-archaic genitive pronoun of ich. Therefore, the contemporary German construction would instead be "vergiss mich nicht".
Related words
незабудка(Belarusian)forglemmigej(Danish)vergeet-mij-niet(Dutch)forget-me-not(English)neforgesumino(Esperanto)μη με λησμόνει(Greek)forglemmegei(Norwegian Bokmål)forgløymmegei(Norwegian Nynorsk)niezapominajka(Polish)незабудка(Russian)fergismajniht(Serbo-Croatian)förgätmigej(Swedish)незабудка(Ukrainian)
Descendant words
- незабудка(Belarusian) (cog)
- forglemmigej(Danish) (der)
- vergeet-mij-niet(Dutch) (calque)
- forget-me-not(English) (der)
- neforgesumino(Esperanto) (calque)
- μη με λησμόνει(Greek) (calque)
- forglemmegei(Norwegian Bokmål) (der)
- forgløymmegei(Norwegian Nynorsk) (der)
- niezapominajka(Polish) (cal)
- незабудка(Russian) (cog)
- fergismajniht(Serbo-Croatian) (bor)
- förgätmigej(Swedish) (clq)
- незабудка(Ukrainian) (cog)
Sources
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