Fussel

German

Etymology

From Middle High German visel m or f. The modern form with -u- is a Central German variant. Further origin unknown. Probably related to German Faser. Compare in particular Dutch vezel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfʊsəl/, [ˈfʊsəl], [ˈfʊsl̩] (prescriptive standard)
• IPA^(key): /ˈfʊzəl/, [ˈfʊzəl], [ˈfʊzl̩] (common variant; not restricted to accents with general voicing of /s/)

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

Fussel m or (rare) n (mixed or strong, genitive Fussels, plural Fusseln or Fussel) or
Fussel f (genitive Fussel, plural Fusseln)

1. fluff, lint of fabric, wool, etc.

   Synonym: Fluse

Usage notes

• Some dictionaries give the word as exclusively or chiefly feminine, but the masculine gender seems now predominant. The neuter is rare.
• Fussel is one of a small number of German nouns which can or historically could have all three genders; see the appendix.

Declension

Declension of Fussel [masculine // neuter (rare), mixed // strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der, das	Fussel	die	Fusseln, Fussel
genitive	eines	des	Fussels	der	Fusseln, Fussel
dative	einem	dem	Fussel	den	Fusseln
accusative	einen, ein	den, das	Fussel	die	Fusseln, Fussel

Declension of Fussel [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Fussel	die	Fusseln
genitive	einer	der	Fussel	der	Fusseln
dative	einer	der	Fussel	den	Fusseln
accusative	eine	die	Fussel	die	Fusseln

Derived terms

• fusselig
• fusseln

Further reading

• “Fussel” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Fussel” in Duden online