Sekt

See also: sekt

German

Alternative forms

Sect (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed in the 17th century, and provided with a paragogic -t, from French (vin) sec (literally “dry wine”), which is also the original sense in German. The sense “sparkling wine” is believed to originate from an anecdote in 19th-century Berlin. The actor Ludwig Devrient supposedly ordered a bottle of wine using the phrase “Bring [er] mir Sekt, Schurke!”, based on the German translation of the line “Give me a cup of sack, rogue!” from Shakespeare’s Henry IV. He was served sparkling wine, his usual order, and this sense was given to the word Sekt when the phrase and anecdote caught on.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /zɛkt/
Audio: (file)
Homophone: säckt

Noun

Sekt m (strong, genitive Sektes or Sekts, plural Sekte, diminutive Sektchen n)

sparkling wine [from 19th c.]
Synonyms: (formal; officialese) Schaumwein; (colloquial; jokingly) Prickelbrause, (derogatory) Puffbrause, (derogatory) Nuttenbrause
- 2018 May 26, Christoph Raffelt, “Christoph Raffelt Mundwerk: Es wird Zeit, den deutschen Sekt zur Kenntnis zu nehmen”, in Die Tageszeitung: taz‎^[1], →ISSN, page 63:
  Was in diesen Wein- und Sektgütern passiert, ist ein Wandel von genügsamen und oft auch etwas zuckrig schmeckenden Sekten der Vergangenheit hin zu feinen, eleganten, oft knochentrockenen, frischen und druckvollen Sekten, die plötzlich international Aufsehen erregen.
  (please add an English translation of this quotation)
(obsolete) sack (light-colored dry wine from southern Europe, especially Spain) [from 17th c.]
Synonym: Südwein
- 1800, August Wilhelm Schlegel, transl., König Heinrich der Vierte, Erster Teil‎^[2], translation of Henry IV, Part 1 by William Shakespeare, [Act II, scene iv]:
  Gib mir ein Glas Sekt, Schurke! – Ist keine Tugend mehr auf Erden?
  Give me a cup of sack, rogue! Is there no virtue extant?

Declension

Declension of Sekt [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Sekt	die	Sekte
genitive	eines	des	Sektes, Sekts	der	Sekte
dative	einem	dem	Sekt, Sekte¹	den	Sekten
accusative	einen	den	Sekt	die	Sekte

¹Now rare, see notes.