Schlesien
Appearance
German
Etymology
Uncertain
- Possibly related to the Germanic Silingi tribe, whose name derives from Ancient Greek Σιλίγγαι (Silíngai), itself possibly from Silesian for "swampy place."
- Or, from Old Polish ślęg, śląg, themselves cognate with the same Silesian source and meaning "dampness, humidity, moisture."[1] More at Ślęża and Silesia.
The name occurs at least since the 16th century, where it's also Slesien, from Slesien (15th century), earlier Slezien (13th century).
In the 16th century, the name of this region also occurs as Schlesy f as in Sebastian Münster's Cosmographia (which has Presla and later Preßla for the capital Breslau) and as Schlesi f, this from Slesy f, Slesi f (15th century).
Pronunciation
Proper noun
Schlesien n (proper noun, genitive Schlesiens or (optionally with an article) Schlesien, plural (uncommon) Schlesien)
- Silesia (a region of Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic)
- Synonyms: Slesien; Schlesie f, Schlesy f, Schlesi f; Schlesierland, Schlesier Land, Schlesier land; (uncommon) Silesien
Derived terms
- Niederschlesien
- Neuschlesien
- Oberschlesien, Ober-Schlesien
- Österreichisch-Schlesien (Oesterreichisch-Schlesien, Oesterreichisch Schlesien, österreichisch Schlesien)
- Preußisch-Schlesien (preußisch Schlesien)
Related terms
References
Categories:
- German terms with unknown etymologies
- German terms derived from Germanic languages
- German terms derived from Ancient Greek
- German terms derived from Silesian
- German terms derived from Old Polish
- German 2-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio pronunciation
- German lemmas
- German proper nouns
- German neuter nouns
- de:Regions of the Czech Republic
- de:Places in Germany
- de:Places in Poland
- de:Places in the Czech Republic