petzen

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: Petzen

German[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈpɛt͡sn̩/
  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: pet‧zen

Etymology 1[edit]

Uncertain. Attested since the end of the 18th century, emerged in Halle, Germany, spread to all major German university cities by mid-19th century. Perhaps from Rotwelsch petzen, pezetten (to report to the police, to betray), from Yiddish [script needed] (Pezet), [script needed] (Peizaddik, police), from [script needed] (pe, p (letter name)) + [script needed] (zadik, z (letter name)) ("pz" for Polizei). Alternatively from Petze (she-dog), hence also the agent noun Petze (tattler).

Verb[edit]

petzen (weak, third-person singular present petzt, past tense petzte, past participle gepetzt, auxiliary haben)

  1. (transitive, intransitive, derogatory, pupil slang) to tattle, snitch
Conjugation[edit]
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Variant of pfetzen, from Middle High German pfetzen, of uncertain ultimate origin, but compare the origin of English pinch.[1]

Verb[edit]

petzen (weak, third-person singular present petzt, past tense petzte, past participle gepetzt, auxiliary haben)

  1. (regional) Alternative form of pfetzen (to pinch, squeeze)
Conjugation[edit]
Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^
    1889–91, “pinch”, in William Dwight Whitney, editor, The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language [], volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC:

Further reading[edit]