Handfeuerwaffe

German

Etymology

Hand (“hand”) +‎ Feuerwaffe (“firearm”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈhantˌfɔʏ̯ɐˌvafə]

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Hand‧feu‧er‧waf‧fe

Noun

Handfeuerwaffe f (genitive Handfeuerwaffe, plural Handfeuerwaffen)

1. a gun that can be carried and operated using just the hands, like a pistol or a rifle

Usage notes

• The word is a false friend of English handgun (“gun that can be held in a single hand”). The German term for this is Faustfeuerwaffe (literally “fist firearm”).

Declension

Declension of Handfeuerwaffe [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Handfeuerwaffe	die	Handfeuerwaffen
genitive	einer	der	Handfeuerwaffe	der	Handfeuerwaffen
dative	einer	der	Handfeuerwaffe	den	Handfeuerwaffen
accusative	eine	die	Handfeuerwaffe	die	Handfeuerwaffen

Further reading

• “Handfeuerwaffe” in Duden online