Kissen

See also: kissen

German

Alternative forms

• Küssen (occasionally until 20th c.)

Etymology

From Middle High German küssen, from Old High German kussīn, from Proto-West Germanic *kussīn (“cushion, pillow”). The form Kissen with dialectal unrounding was standardised to avoid homophony with küssen (“to kiss”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɪsən/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪsən

Noun

Kissen n (strong, genitive Kissens, plural Kissen, diminutive Kisschen n)

1. cushion; pillow (bag filled with soft material used to sit or rest one’s head on)
2. (by extension, in the plural) all the soft parts of a bed, i.e. mattress, duvet, and pillow collectively

Declension

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Kissen	die	Kissen
genitive	eines	des	Kissens	der	Kissen
dative	einem	dem	Kissen	den	Kissen
accusative	ein	das	Kissen	die	Kissen

Declension of Kissen [neuter, strong]

Synonyms

• Polster (Austria)

Derived terms

• Kissenbezug
• Kissenschlacht
• Kopfkissen
• Luftkissen
• Luftkissenboot
• Plüschkissen
• Sofakissen

Further reading

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