Pflaster

See also: pflaster

German

Etymology

From Middle High German pflaster, from Old High German pflastar (“plaster, pavement”), from Proto-West Germanic *plastr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpflastɐ/ (standard)
• IPA^(key): /ˈflastɐ/ (most speakers in northern and central Germany)

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Noun

Pflaster n (strong, genitive Pflasters, plural Pflaster)

1. (archaic) plaster, cement, mortar, a mixture of gypsum, sand and chalk applied to floors
2. specifically the pavement of a street or a street (which is no difference in old towns preceding the automobile), as well as the material from which it is made, cobblestone (Pflasterstein, Kopfsteinpflaster)
   • 1918, Elisabeth von Heyking, Die Orgelpfeifen, in: Zwei Erzählungen, Phillipp Reclam jun. Verlag, page 34–35:

     Durch die noch leeren dunklen Straßen hallte der Hufschlag nahender Pferde auf dem feuchten Pflaster, lange ehe etwas von ihnen zu sehen war.

     Through the still empty dark streets echoed the hoofbeat of approaching horses on the wet pavement, long before something could be seen of them.

3. clipping of Heftpflaster (“band-aid, sticking plaster”); in general a poultice, bandage or other dressing of a wound (but now typicized to the aforementioned commodity)

Declension

Declension of Pflaster [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Pflaster	die	Pflaster
genitive	eines	des	Pflasters	der	Pflaster
dative	einem	dem	Pflaster	den	Pflastern
accusative	ein	das	Pflaster	die	Pflaster

Derived terms

• Heftpflaster
• Kopfsteinpflaster
• Pflastergeld
• Pflasterstein
• pflastern (see it for more)

Descendants

• → Kashubian: flaster
• → Polish: plaster
• → Silesian: flŏster

Further reading

• “Pflaster” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Pflaster” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Pflaster” in Duden online
• “Pflaster” in Deutsches Rechtswörterbuch
• “Pflaster” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.