Spätzle

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Spätzle

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Borrowed from Alemannic German Spätzle, unclear if.

1. a diminutive of Spatz (“sparrow”), comparing the name of the dish Rindsvögel
2. or in another ablaut to the family of Spitze (“cusp, peak”), German Spieß (“spit”), comparing to the Italian spirelli (literally “little spires or coils”); compare its other name Knöpfli from Knopf (“knob”)
3. or of even more obscure orgin possibly related to German Spatzeck (“tipcat”), which may be from the words for spits and cusps, or related to expressive verbs like Southern spatzen (“to make jerk away”), batzen (“to agglutinate by thrusting”), patzen (“to beat, to pound”), or Rhaeto-Romance forms of Latin battuere (“to beat, to pound”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃpɛt͡slə/

• Audio (Berlin):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Spätz‧le

Spätzle n (strong, genitive Spätzles, plural Spätzle)

1. (chiefly in the plural) spaetzle (southern German kind of noodles)

   Synonyms: Knöpfle, Spatzen

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