Schlagbaum

German

Schlagbaum

Etymology

16th century, from schlagen +‎ Baum. The former word refers to the “slamming down”. The latter is used in the dated sense of “stem, beam, pole”; compare cognate English beam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃlaːkˌbaʊ̯m/ (standard)

  • Audio:

    (file)

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃlaxˌbaʊ̯m/ (northern and central Germany, now chiefly colloquial)

Noun

Schlagbaum m (strong, genitive Schlagbaumes or Schlagbaums, plural Schlagbäume)

1. barrier, tollbar (structure consisting of a long beam on a joint, used to control passage)

   Synonyms: Absperrbalken, Barriere, Schranke

Usage notes

• Not used for automatic barriers, which are always called Schranke.

Declension

Declension of Schlagbaum [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Schlagbaum	die	Schlagbäume
genitive	eines	des	Schlagbaumes, Schlagbaums	der	Schlagbäume
dative	einem	dem	Schlagbaum, Schlagbaume1	den	Schlagbäumen
accusative	einen	den	Schlagbaum	die	Schlagbäume

¹Now rare, see notes.

Descendants

• → Polish: szlaban
• → Russian: шлагба́ум (šlagbáum)
  • → Armenian: շլագբաում (šlagbaum)
  • → Azerbaijani: şlaqbaum
  • → Georgian: შლაგბაუმი (šlagbaumi)
  • → Latvian: šlagbaums

Further reading

• “Schlagbaum” in Duden online
• “Schlagbaum” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache