Ernst

See also: ernst

English

Etymology

Borrowed from German Ernst, a medieval royal name in Germany, from Old High German ernust (“vigor, strife”), from Proto-Germanic *ernustuz. Doublet of earnest.

Proper noun

Ernst

1. A surname.

Anagrams

• 'rents, Snert, Stern, nerts, rents, snert, stern, stern-, terns

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ænsd̥]

Proper noun

Ernst

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Ernest

Related terms

• feminine form: Erna

See also: erni

Estonian

Proper noun

Ernst

1. a male given name

Related terms

• Erni
• Ernits
• Erno

Faroese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛɻɳst/

Proper noun

Ernst m

1. a male given name

Usage notes

Patronymics

• son of Ernst: Ernstsson
• daughter of Ernst: Ernstsdóttir

Declension

	Singular
	Indefinite
Nominative	Ernst
Accusative	Ernst
Dative	Ernsti
Genitive	Ernsts

German

Etymology

Nominal usage of the adjective ernst

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛʁnst/

• Audio (Germany):

  (file)

Noun

Ernst m (strong, genitive Ernstes or Ernsts, no plural)

1. earnestness, seriousness
2. (with possessive determiner, idiomatic) a serious statement, a seriously meant action

   Ist das dein Ernst? ― Are you serious? (literally, “Is that your serious opinion?”)

   Das ist mein Ernst, wenn ich sage, dass dieser Rock zu kurz ist.

   I mean it when I say this skirt is too short.

Declension

Declension of Ernst [sg-only, masculine, strong]

	singular
	indef.	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Ernst
genitive	eines	des	Ernstes, Ernsts
dative	einem	dem	Ernst, Ernste1
accusative	einen	den	Ernst

¹Now rare, see notes.

Proper noun

Ernst

1. a male given name, feminine equivalent Erna, equivalent to English Ernest

Further reading

• “Ernst” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Ernst” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Ernst” in Duden online
• “Ernst” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.
• Ernst on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de
• Friedrich Kluge (1883) “Ernst”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891

Norwegian

Proper noun

Ernst

1. a male given name, feminine equivalent Erna, equivalent to English Ernest

Swedish

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Ernst c (genitive Ernsts)

1. a male given name, feminine equivalent Erna, equivalent to English Ernest