Gestein

German

Etymology

From Middle High German gesteine, from Old High German gisteini, a collective formation equivalent to ge- +‎ Stein.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡəˈʃtaɪ̯n/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪ̯n

Noun

Gestein n (strong, genitive Gesteines or Gesteins, plural Gesteine)

1. rock, mass of stone, especially as part of the crust of the earth

   Synonym: Fels

   • 2010, Der Spiegel‎^[1], number 35/2010, page 96:

     Viele Gewässer sind mit Quecksilber belastet, das die Goldsucher einsetzen, um das Metall vom Gestein zu lösen.

     Many waters are polluted with mercury, which is used by gold diggers to separate the metal from the rock.

Usage notes

• The plural refers to different kinds of rock.

Declension

Declension of Gestein [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Gestein	die	Gesteine
genitive	eines	des	Gesteines, Gesteins	der	Gesteine
dative	einem	dem	Gestein, Gesteine1	den	Gesteinen
accusative	ein	das	Gestein	die	Gesteine

¹Now rare, see notes.

Derived terms

• Edelgestein
• Mondgestein
• Urgestein

Further reading

• “Gestein” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Gestein” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Gestein” in Duden online
• Gestein on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de