Bahn

From Middle High German ban, from Old High German *bana, from Proto-West Germanic *banu, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *banō. Cognate with Luxembourgish Bunn, Dutch baan.

• IPA^(key): /baːn/

• Audio (Austria):

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• Audio:

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• Homophones: Bahren, Barren (some speakers chiefly in casual speech)
• Rhymes: -aːn

Bahn f (genitive Bahn, plural Bahnen)

1. route, trail

   Sie bricht sich ihre eigene Bahn.

   She blazes her own trail.

2. (rail transport) railway/railroad or rail transport

   Ich habe eine Tageskarte für Bus und Bahn.

   I've got a day ticket for bus and rail.

3. short for Eisenbahn a vehicle in rail transport (especially a regional commuter train or tram, otherwise more often Zug or Tram)

   Die Bahn kommt immer zu spät!

   The train is always late!

   Ich bin in der Bahn.

   I'm on the train.

4. (informal) ellipsis of Autobahn

   Ich bin auf der Bahn.

   I'm on the motorway.

5. (informal) ellipsis of Fahrbahn (“lane [of a road]”)
6. A large, wide sheet of material used for waterproofing roofs and other structures; waterproofing membrane
7. (astronomy) orbit

   Kometen umlaufen die Sonne auf exzentrischen Bahnen.

   Comets orbit the Sun on eccentric orbits.

• English: gadgetbahn
• → Greater Polish: bana
• → Kashubian: ban
• Russian: (Crimean, slang) бан (ban)
• → Silesian: bana

Bahn f (proper noun, genitive Bahn)

1. Deutsche Bahn, or its predecessors.

   Die Bahn schreibt schwarze Zahlen.

   Deutsche Bahn announces a profit.

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