mannvitsbrekka
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Icelandic
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From mannvit (“sense, knowledge”) + brekka. The meaning of the second constituent has not fully been determined,[1] but is possibly used as a emphatic suffix to mean “a paragon of wisdom”. Found in archaic speech, two women have the nickname mannvitsbrekka in Landnámabók (“The Book of Settlements”)[1]
The oldest example of the word from later usage is from 1915, but it is generally used sarcastically.[1]
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]mannvitsbrekka f (genitive singular mannvitsbrekku, nominative plural mannvitsbrekkur)
- genius; a sarcastic way of referring to a person's wit
- (nickname, archaic) a hill of man's wit, a paragon of wisdom
Declension
[edit]declension of mannvitsbrekka
| f-w1 | singular | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
| nominative | mannvitsbrekka | mannvitsbrekkan | mannvitsbrekkur | mannvitsbrekkurnar |
| accusative | mannvitsbrekku | mannvitsbrekkuna | mannvitsbrekkur | mannvitsbrekkurnar |
| dative | mannvitsbrekku | mannvitsbrekkunni | mannvitsbrekkum | mannvitsbrekkunum |
| genitive | mannvitsbrekku | mannvitsbrekkunnar | mannvitsbrekkna | mannvitsbrekknanna |
References
[edit]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Icelandic Web of Science: Hver er uppruni orðsins mannvitsbrekka og hvar kemur það fyrst fyrir? (“Where does the word “mannvitsbrekka” come from and where did it originate?”)
Further reading
[edit]- mannvitsbrekka on ISLEX