Schnaps

See also: schnaps and schnapps

German

Etymology

From German Low German Snapps, originally “a sip (of liquor)”. Related to schnappen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃnaps/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Noun

Schnaps m (strong, genitive Schnapses, plural Schnäpse, diminutive Schnäpschen n)

1. spirit, booze, hard liquor

   Synonyms: Branntwein; (colloquial) Fusel; (colloquial) Hartstoff; Spirituose

Usage notes

• Unlike English schnapps, the German word is general and does not refer to any specific kind of liquor. It is used, however, less commonly of more fancy or “sophisticated” kinds of spirits (such as whiskey).

Declension

Declension of Schnaps [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Schnaps	die	Schnäpse
genitive	eines	des	Schnapses	der	Schnäpse
dative	einem	dem	Schnaps, Schnapse1	den	Schnäpsen
accusative	einen	den	Schnaps	die	Schnäpse

¹Now rare, see notes.

Derived terms

• Schnapsdrossel f
• Schnapsidee f
• Schnapsleiche f
• Schnapszahl f

Descendants

• → Danish: snaps
• → English: schnapps, schnaps
• → Estonian: naps
• → Faroese: snapsur
• → Finnish: snapsi
• → French: schnaps
• → Japanese: シュナップス
• → Kashubian: sznaps
• → Latvian: šņabis
• → Norwegian Bokmål: snaps
• → Norwegian Nynorsk: snaps
• → Polish: sznaps
• → Portuguese: schnaps, schnapps
• → Russian: шнапс (šnaps)
• → Serbo-Croatian: šnaps, шнапс
• → Swedish: snaps
• → Ukrainian: шнапс (šnaps)
• → Venetan: snjapa
• → Vietnamese: rượu sơnap

Further reading

• “Schnaps” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Schnaps” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Schnaps” in Duden online

Hunsrik

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃnaps/

Noun

Schnaps m (plural Schneps, diminutive Schnepsje)

1. hard liquor

Further reading

• Boll, Piter Kehoma (2021), “Schnaps”, in Dicionário Hunsriqueano Riograndense–Português, 3rd edition (overall work in Portuguese), Ivoti: Riograndenser Hunsrickisch