Kneipe

German

Etymology

From kneipen, an archaic variant of kneifen (“to pinch, squeeze”).

The noun spread from student slang of Upper Saxony in the later 18th century, possibly picked up from thieves’ cant, and is based on the idea of a crowded pub where people, as it were, squeeze and poke each other. Kneipe became the commonest word for “pub” during the 20th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈknaɪ̯pə/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Noun

Kneipe f (genitive Kneipe, plural Kneipen, diminutive Kneipchen n)

1. pub, bar

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:Kneipe

2. (obsolete) a student’s cramped dwelling

Usage notes

• The term Kneipe typically refers to a pub that does not serve hot food, which is the predominant rule for pubs in German-speaking Europe. Pubs that do serve hot food are more likely to be referred to as Lokal or Wirtschaft, although they may also be called Kneipe.

Declension

Declension of Kneipe [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Kneipe	die	Kneipen
genitive	einer	der	Kneipe	der	Kneipen
dative	einer	der	Kneipe	den	Kneipen
accusative	eine	die	Kneipe	die	Kneipen

Derived terms

• Bierkneipe
• Dorfkneipe
• Eckkneipe
• Hafenkneipe
• Kellerkneipe
• kneipen (“to booze”)
• kneipenartig
• Kneipenhocker
• Kneipenkultur
• Kneipensterben
• Kneipenwirt
• Musikkneipe
• Raucherkneipe
• Stammkneipe
• Studentenkneipe

Related terms

• kneifen, kneipen, kniepen

Descendants

• → Czech: knajpa
• → Danish: knejpe
  • → Icelandic: knæpa
• → Norwegian Bokmål: kneipe
• → Dutch: knijp
• → Polish: knajpa
  • → Ukrainian: кна́йпа (knájpa)

Further reading

• Kluge, Friedrich (1902), “Kneipe”, in Zeitschrift für deutsche Sprache, volume 3, Straßburg: Karl J. Trübner, pages 114–121
• “Kneipe” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Kneipe” in Duden online