Masche

Alemannic German

Etymology

From Middle High German masche, from Old High German masca, from Proto-West Germanic *maskā.

Cognate with German Masche, Dutch maas, English mesh, Swedish maska. Perhaps borrowed from another Germanic language (such as Standard German), as expected inherited form is *Mäsche.

Noun

Masche f (Uri)

1. mesh
2. stitch

References

• Abegg, Emil, (1911) Die Mundart von Urseren (Beiträge zur Schweizerdeutschen Grammatik. IV.) [The Dialect of Urseren], Frauenfeld, Switzerland: Huber & Co., page 13.

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmaʃə/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aʃə

Etymology 1

From Middle High German masche, from Old High German maska, from a Proto-West Germanic *maskā.^[1] Cognate with Old Saxon maska. More at mesh.

Noun

Masche f (genitive Masche, plural Maschen, diminutive Mäschchen n or Mäschlein n)

1. (knitting, crocheting) stitch
2. hole (in a net)
3. link (in chainmail)

Declension

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Masche	die	Maschen
genitive	einer	der	Masche	der	Maschen
dative	einer	der	Masche	den	Maschen
accusative	eine	die	Masche	die	Maschen

Declension of Masche [feminine]

References

1. Friedrich Kluge (1989) “Masche”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN

Etymology 2

Probably from the older meaning of “safety net, sling used for hunting”.

Noun

Masche f (genitive Masche, no plural)

1. (colloquial) trick, scam, shtick

   Das ist ja ne tolle Masche. ― Now that’s a nice trick.

   Mit dieser Masche haben sie viele Leute betrogen. ― They have deceived many people with this scam.

Declension

	singular
	indef.	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Masche
genitive	einer	der	Masche
dative	einer	der	Masche
accusative	eine	die	Masche

Declension of Masche [sg-only, feminine]

Further reading

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