mager

See also: Mager, mäger, måger, and -mager

Danish

Etymology 1

From Old Danish maghær, from Old Norse magr (“thin, meager”), from Proto-Germanic *magraz, from Proto-Indo-European *mh₂ḱrós.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmæˀjɐ], [ˈmæˀɐ], [ˈmɑwˀɐ]
• Rhymes: -aːˀər

Adjective

mager

1. lean
2. thin, spare, skinny, scrawny
3. poor, meagre

Inflection

Inflection of mager

	positive	comparative	superlative
indefinite common singular	mager	—	—2
indefinite neuter singular	magert	—	—2
plural	magre	—	—2
definite attributive1	magre	—	—

¹ When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
² The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

Etymology 2

From Latin magus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmæˀjɐ], [ˈmæˀɐ], [ˈmæˀɡ̊ɐ]

Noun

mager c (singular definite mageren, plural indefinite magere)

1. mage

Inflection

Declension of mager

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	mager	mageren	magere	magerne
genitive	magers	magerens	mageres	magernes

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmæːjɐ], [ˈmæːɐ]
• Rhymes: -aːər

Noun

mager c

1. indefinite plural of mage

Etymology 4

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmæːjɐ], [ˈmæːɐ]
• Rhymes: -aːər

Verb

mager

1. present of mage

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch mager, from Old Dutch *magar, from Proto-Germanic *magraz, from Proto-Indo-European *mh₂ḱrós. Cognate with German, Danish, and Swedish mager, etc., and with Latin macer, Italian magro and English meager through Indo-European.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmaː.ɣər/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ma‧ger
• Rhymes: -aːɣər

Adjective

mager (comparative magerder, superlative magerst)

1. lean, (nearly) without fat
2. meager, skinny, thin
3. poor, pitiful, skim

   Zo'n mager loon betekent magere melk en mager vertier!

   Such meager wages mean skimmed milk and poor entertainment!

4. low-fat

   Synonym: vetarm

5. infertile (said of soil); weak

Declension

Declension of mager
uninflected	mager
inflected	magere
comparative	magerder
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		mager	magerder	het magerst het magerste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	magere	magerdere	magerste
	n. sing.	mager	magerder	magerste
	plural	magere	magerdere	magerste
definite		magere	magerdere	magerste
partitive		magers	magerders	—

Antonyms

• rijk
• vet

Derived terms

• magerheid, magerte
• magerman m
• magertjes
• graatmager
• vermageren
• Magere Hein m

Descendants

• Afrikaans: maer
• Berbice Creole Dutch: manggri
• Negerhollands: mager
  • → Virgin Islands Creole: mager
• → Saramaccan: mángru
• → Sranan Tongo: mangri

Anagrams

• marge

German

Etymology

From Old High German magar, from Proto-Germanic *magraz, from Proto-Indo-European *mh₂ḱrós. Cognate with Dutch mager, Danish mager, Norwegian Bokmål mager, Norwegian Nynorsk mager, Swedish mager, etc., and with English meagre through Indo-European.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmaːɡɐ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ma‧ger

Adjective

mager (strong nominative masculine singular magerer or (rare) magrer, not comparable)

1. lean, without fat
2. meager, skinny

Declension

Positive forms of mager (uncomparable)

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist mager	sie ist mager	es ist mager	sie sind mager
strong declension (without article)	nominative	magerer magrer1	magere magre1	mageres magres1	magere magre1
	genitive	mageren magren1	magerer magrer1	mageren magren1	magerer magrer1
	dative	magerem magrem1	magerer magrer1	magerem magrem1	mageren magren1
	accusative	mageren magren1	magere magre1	mageres magres1	magere magre1
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der magere der magre1	die magere die magre1	das magere das magre1	die mageren die magren1
	genitive	des mageren des magren1	der mageren der magren1	des mageren des magren1	der mageren der magren1
	dative	dem mageren dem magren1	der mageren der magren1	dem mageren dem magren1	den mageren den magren1
	accusative	den mageren den magren1	die magere die magre1	das magere das magre1	die mageren die magren1
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein magerer ein magrer1	eine magere eine magre1	ein mageres ein magres1	(keine) mageren (keine) magren1
	genitive	eines mageren eines magren1	einer mageren einer magren1	eines mageren eines magren1	(keiner) mageren (keiner) magren1
	dative	einem mageren einem magren1	einer mageren einer magren1	einem mageren einem magren1	(keinen) mageren (keinen) magren1
	accusative	einen mageren einen magren1	eine magere eine magre1	ein mageres ein magres1	(keine) mageren (keine) magren1

¹Rare.

Related terms

• Magersucht
• Magermilch
• Magerstufe
• abmagern

Further reading

• “mager” in Duden online
• “mager” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• Friedrich Kluge (1883) “mager”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891

Indonesian

Etymology

Blend of malas (“lazy”) +‎ gerak (“move”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmaɡər/
• Hyphenation: ma‧gêr

Adjective

magêr (superlative termager)

1. (slang) lazy.

   Synonym: malas

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From Old Norse magr (“thin, meager”), from Proto-Germanic *magraz, from Proto-Indo-European *mh₂ḱrós.

Adjective

mager (neuter singular magert, definite singular and plural magre)

1. meager (US) or meagre (UK), lean

   magert kjøtt - lean meat

Derived terms

• utmagret

Etymology 2

Noun

mager m

1. indefinite plural of mage

References

• “mager” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse magr (“thin, meager”), from Proto-Germanic *magraz, from Proto-Indo-European *mh₂ḱrós.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɑːɡɛr/

Adjective

mager (neuter singular magert, definite singular and plural magre)

1. thin, emaciated, scrawny (having little fat on one's body)
2. meagre (UK) or meager (US)

Derived terms

• magrast

References

• “mager” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish magher, from Old Norse magr (“thin, meager”), from Proto-Germanic *magraz, from Proto-Indo-European *mh₂ḱrós.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

mager (comparative magrare, superlative magrast)

1. lean, without fat
2. meager, skinny
3. meager, infertile, barren
   • 1747–62, Olof von Dalin, Svea rikes historia :

     Det war den tidens smak: och ju magrare et land fans, ju snarare skickade det nya folksvärmar ifrån sig.

Declension

Inflection of mager

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	mager	magrare	magrast
neuter singular	magert	magrare	magrast
plural	magra	magrare	magrast
masculine plural2	magre	magrare	magrast
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	magre	magrare	magraste
all	magra	magrare	magraste

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

See also

• magra
• avmagra
• magert

Anagrams

• magre

West Makian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈma.ɡer/

Noun

mager

1. a twig

References

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[1], Pacific linguistics