FromDutchniemand, fromMiddle Dutchnieman, fromOld Dutchnieman.
niemand
- nobody;no one
- none
FromMiddle Dutchnieman, fromOld Dutchnieman. Equivalent ton- +iemand.
niemand (genitiveniemands)
- nobody,no one
Niemand weet,niemand weet, dat ik Repelsteeltje heet.- Nobody knows,nobody knows, that I am called Rumpelstiltskin.
FromMiddle High Germannieman, fromOld High Germannioman; equivalent tonie(“never”) +Mann(“man”). Cognate withDutchniemand,Afrikaansniemand,Low Germannemann,nemand,nümand,Hunsriknimmand.
niemand
- nobody,no one
- Synonym:keiner
- Antonyms:jemand,einer
- Es ist garniemand da. ―There'sno one at all.
1524, “Christ lag in Todes Banden”,Martin Luther (lyrics), Johann Walter (music):Den Todniemand zwingen kunnt.- Nobody could defeat death.
- Niemand is synonymous withkeiner(“no one”), which is the nominalised masculine form of the pronounkein(“no”). In written German,niemand is more common thankeiner, whereas colloquial German often prefers the latter. (Note thatkeiner can also be used in other senses, in whichniemand is not applicable.)
- Similarly tojemand,niemand may or may not take the case endings-em (dative) and-en (accusative). Thus: “Ich suche niemand” and “Ich suche niemanden” are both correct translations of “I'm looking for nobody.” The latter is somewhat more common (at least in writing). Usingniemanden in the dative is incorrect, but it's a common error and occurs with surprising frequency in print. It was possible historically, but not in Modern German.
- With a following adjective,niemand is always uninflected. The adjective itself is capitalized and declined in the strong pattern. It generally uses neuter forms:niemand Neues – "nobody new". In the accusative case it may also take a masculine form: “Ich suche niemand Neuen” alongside “Ich suche niemand Neues.” ("I'm looking for nobody new.") The dative form has-em either way. The genitive case cannot be used with an adjective, but needs to be paraphrased.
1 especially spoken German
- “niemand” inDuden online
- “niemand” inDigitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- Niemand in Adelung'sGrammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart at Zeno.org
