Sauerland

English

Etymology

Borrowed from German Sauerland.

Proper noun

the Sauerland

  1. 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)

  1. Sauerland (a hilly region of Westphalia, North Rhine-Westphalia)
    Synonym: Süderland

Usage notes

  • There are märkisches Sauerland and kurkölnisches Sauerland.

Derived terms

See also

  • Latin: de Suderlande (as in Henricus de Suderlande)
  • Low German: siuerländsk

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)