Treibsand

German

Alternative forms

• Triebsand (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle High German tripsant, trybsand (both Central German, 14th c.). Like all High German attestations before the 16th century, these seem to be equivalent to modern Trieb +‎ Sand, which is notable because Middle High German trip was commonly used of the driving of livestock only. Hence, possibly from Middle Low German drifsant (15th c., could be drīfsant), dryffsandt (16th c.), from *driftsant (compare unambiguous Dutch drifsant, driftzant, 16th c.). A borrowing from Low German may also be corroborated by the semantic context, though neither silt nor quicksand are restricted to seashores. The modern form with -ei- by adaptation to underlying treiben (also in contemporary Dutch drijfzand, Low German Driefsand).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtʁaɪ̯pˌzant/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ant

Noun

Treibsand m (strong, genitive Treibsandes or Treibsands, plural Treibsande)

1. quicksand
2. (dated) silt

   Synonyms: Schwemmsand, Schlick, Schlicksand

Declension

Declension of Treibsand [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Treibsand	die	Treibsande
genitive	eines	des	Treibsandes, Treibsands	der	Treibsande
dative	einem	dem	Treibsand, Treibsande1	den	Treibsanden
accusative	einen	den	Treibsand	die	Treibsande

¹Now rare, see notes.

Related terms

• treiben
• Sand

Further reading

• “Treibsand” in Duden online