Pfand

German

Etymology

From Middle High German phant, from Old High German phant. Only found in base form in continental Germanic languages, such as Dutch pand and Swedish pant (though derivatives also exist in insular Germanic as Icelandic panta (“to reserve, order”)), and of unresolved origin, various Latin sources have been suggested: Latin pāctum (“agreement”) under the supposition of a Low Latin *pantum from *panctum, or a pondus (“weight”) borrowed so early that it preceded the change from Indo-European o to a in Germanic.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /pfant/ (standard)
IPA^(key): /fant/ (northern and central Germany)
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -ant
Homophone: fand (regional)

Noun

Pfand n or m (strong, genitive Pfandes or Pfands, plural Pfänder)

pawn
pledge
can or bottle deposit
Hyponyms: Becherpfand, Flaschenpfand, Dosenpfand

Usage notes

The commonly used gender for the noun is neuter in Germany and Switzerland and masculine in Austria. In recent years the masculine form has seen an increase in usage in Germany, especially in the East.^[1]

Declension

Declension of Pfand [neuter // masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das, der	Pfand	die	Pfänder
genitive	eines	des	Pfandes, Pfands	der	Pfänder
dative	einem	dem	Pfand, Pfande¹	den	Pfändern
accusative	ein, einen	das, den	Pfand	die	Pfänder

¹Now rare, see notes.

Derived terms

pfänden, verpfänden

Related terms

Pfandbrief, Pfandflasche, Pfandgebühr, Pfandgeld, Pfandhaus, Pfandrecht, Pfandsystem, Unterpfand

References

^ Matthias Schmidt (9 November 2015) “Die Deutschen haben entschieden: Es heißt DIE E-Mail”, in YouGov: What the world thinks‎^[1] (in German), retrieved 26 July 2021: “Während in der alten Bundesrepublik drei von vier Befragten (73 Prozent) „das Pfand“ sagen und nur jeder Vierte „der Pfand“, liegen die beiden Artikel im Osten fast gleichauf (der: 47 Prozent, das: 51 Prozent).”