Sauerland
English
Etymology
Borrowed from German Sauerland.
Proper noun
the Sauerland
- A region of Westphalia, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
- 2025 May 6, Jim Tankersley, Christopher F. Schuetze, “Who Is Friedrich Merz, Germany’s New Chancellor?”, in The New York Times[1], →ISSN:
- Mr. Merz is a product of the Sauerland in Germany’s wealthy west, a region that defines his politics and persona. During his campaign, he ran on the slogan “More Sauerland for Germany,” evoking the region’s image as a heartland of the country.
Further reading
German
Etymology
First mentioned in 1266 as Suderlande; the -d- started to disappear around 1400. The first part is possibly a corruption of a Westphalian Low German word for southern: compare süder-, Süd, Old Saxon sûðar, all from sūth, from Proto-West Germanic *sunþr. This is more likely than the theory that it is directly from sauer (“sour”, in this sense "poor soil"). The second part is related to Land.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈzaʊ̯ɐlant/
Audio: (file) - Rhymes: -ant
Proper noun
das Sauerland n (proper noun, strong, usually definite, definite genitive des Sauerlandes or des Sauerlands)
- Sauerland (a hilly region of Westphalia, North Rhine-Westphalia)
- Synonym: Süderland
Usage notes
- There are märkisches Sauerland and kurkölnisches Sauerland.
Derived terms
- Sauerländer
- sauerländisch
- Hochsauerland
See also
Further reading
- “Sauerland” in Duden online
- Sauerland on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia de
- Westfälisches Urkunden-Buch. Fortsetzung von Erhards Regesta historiae Westfaliae. Siebenter Band: Die Urkunden des kölnischen Westfalens vom J. 1200–1300, Münster, 1908, p. 563, Nr. 1243: from the year 1266, in Latin and containing the name Wesselo de Suderlande (dative/ablative)