Hammer

See also: hammer, hämmer, and Hämmer

English

Etymology

Shortened West Ham +‎ -er, with a pun on hammer.

Noun

Hammer (plural Hammers)

1. (soccer) someone connected with West Ham Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.

Proper noun

Hammer

1. A surname.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Hammer is the 1,661^st most common surname in the United States, belonging to 21,709 individuals. Hammer is most common among White (92.82%) individuals.

Derived terms

• Hammer projection

 

Danish

Proper noun

Hammer

1. a surname from English.

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhamɐ/
• Rhymes: -amɐ

• Audio:

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Middle High German hamer, from Old High German hamar, from Proto-West Germanic *hamar, from Proto-Germanic *hamaraz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱmoros, from *h₂éḱmō (“stone”).

Compare Low German Hamer, Dutch hamer, English hammer, West Frisian hammer, Danish hammer, Swedish hammare.

Noun

Hammer m (strong, genitive Hammers, plural Hämmer or Hammer, diminutive Hämmerchen n or Hämmerlein n)

1. hammer, mallet

   Synonym: (regional) Mottek

   Er schlug sich mit dem Hammer auf den Daumen.

   He hit his thumb with the hammer.

2. (informal) sensation, something extraordinary (be it positive or negative)

   Die Entlassung des Ministers war ein Hammer.

   The minister's dismissal was a sensation.

   Ihr seid der Hammer!

   You all are awesome!

3. (sports) a hard shot, slam

   Der Torwart parierte einen Hammer von der Strafraumgrenze.

   The keeper saved a hard shot from the 18-yard line.

Usage notes

• The unchanged plural Hammer is usual (perhaps even predominant) in the figurative senses 2 and 3. It also occurs in the concrete sense “hammer”, but this may be considered nonstandard.

Declension

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Hammer	die	Hämmer, Hammer
genitive	eines	des	Hammers	der	Hämmer, Hammer
dative	einem	dem	Hammer	den	Hämmern, Hammern
accusative	einen	den	Hammer	die	Hämmer, Hammer

Declension of Hammer [masculine, strong]

Derived terms

• behämmert
• Gummihammer
• hammerhart
• hämmern
• Presslufthammer
• Vorschlaghammer

 

Etymology 2

From Hamm +‎ -er.

Noun

Hammer m (strong, genitive Hammers, plural Hammer, feminine Hammerin)

1. someone from the city of Hamm

Declension

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Hammer	die	Hammer
genitive	eines	des	Hammers	der	Hammer
dative	einem	dem	Hammer	den	Hammern
accusative	einen	den	Hammer	die	Hammer

Declension of Hammer [masculine, strong]

Adjective

Hammer (indeclinable, no predicative form)

1. (relational) of Hamm

Usage notes

• Words like this are considered indeclinable adjectives, as noted by Duden, DWDS and other modern German references, but are capitalized because they originated as genitive plurals of substantives. See -er for more.

Further reading

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

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

From Middle High German hamer, from Old High German hamar. Compare German Hammer, Dutch hamer, English hammer.

Noun

Hammer m (plural Hammer, second plural Hemmer)

1. hammer