Kegel

See also: kegel

English

Noun

Kegel (plural Kegels)

1. Alternative letter-case form of kegel

Synonyms

• Kegel exercise

Anagrams

• Gleek, gleek

German

FWOTD – 17 August 2020

Etymology

From Middle High German kegel, from Old High German chegil, kegil (“peg”), especially pegs for a tent (zeltchegil) or similar. Middle High German kegel means “peg or pin used for a game” (such as skittles), but regional use from the 14th century onward also preserve a more general meaning of “peg, cudgel”.

The etymology cannot be traced with certainty. The word is a member of a Wortsippe which also includes Keil (“wedge”), German Kugel (“ball, sphere”) and Kiel (“keel”).

No cognates of Kegel are known outside of German (other than loans from German in Dutch, Scandinavian as well as Baltic and Slavic languages). French quille seems to be a reflex of an Old Frankish form of the word. Proto-Slavic *žezlъ (“stick, staff, rod”) has diverse proposed origins. The German word Keil (“wedge”) is closely related, compared by Grimm to the relationship of Latin cuneus (“wedge”) with cōnus (“cone”). In some dialects, Keil was used as the term for both “wedge” and “bowling pin”.

Also closely related is Kugel (“ball, sphere”). All these terms developed in context of the game of skittles. The relation of Keil to Kegel (both terms for the pin) was the same as that of Kaule to Kugel (both terms for the ball; the former remained dialectal, while Kugel became the generic term for "sphere").

For the development of the sense of an illegitimate son compare German Bengel, Flegel, Balg and the like.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkeːɡəl/, /ˈkeːɡl̩/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Kegel m (strong, genitive Kegels, plural Kegel)

1. skittle, ninepin, bowling pin; pin [from 13th c.]
2. (by extension) any heap or peak of conical or pyramidal shape, especially of feces, hay, brushwood, of mountains and of the tip of a helmet [from 14th c.]
3. (mathematics) cone [from 18th c.]
4. (obsolete) ruffian, bastard (illegitimate child)

   Synonyms: uneheliches Kind, Bankert, Bastard, Mamser

Declension

Declension of Kegel [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Kegel	die	Kegel
genitive	eines	des	Kegels	der	Kegel
dative	einem	dem	Kegel	den	Kegeln
accusative	einen	den	Kegel	die	Kegel

Hyponyms

• Leitkegel
• Lichtkegel
• Vulkankegel

Derived terms

• kegelförmig

Related terms

• Kegelbahn
• Kegelbruder
• Kegeldach
• Kegelstumpf
• mit Kind und Kegel

Further reading

• “Kegel” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Kegel” in Duden online
• “Kegel” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.