Trinkgeld

German

Etymology

From Middle High German trincgelt. Equivalent to trinken (“to drink”) +‎ Geld (“money”), meaning an extra to buy drinks with.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtrɪŋkˌɡɛlt/, [ˈtʁɪŋ(k)ˌɡ̊ɛlt]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Trink‧geld

Noun

Trinkgeld n (strong, genitive Trinkgelds or Trinkgeldes, plural Trinkgelder)

1. tip (small amount of money given to service providers, such as waiters, hairdressers, taxi drivers etc.)
2. (figurative) any small or insufficient amount of money, e.g. a low wage

Usage notes

• Tips are not strictly expected in Germany and Austria, but one should at least round up slightly. The polite custom is to tip between 5 and 10 percent of the total of a bill.

Declension

Declension of Trinkgeld [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Trinkgeld	die	Trinkgelder
genitive	eines	des	Trinkgelds, Trinkgeldes	der	Trinkgelder
dative	einem	dem	Trinkgeld, Trinkgelde1	den	Trinkgeldern
accusative	ein	das	Trinkgeld	die	Trinkgelder

¹Now rare, see notes.

Related terms

• Trinkgeldbecher
• Trinkgeldgefäß
• Trinkgeldhöhe
• Trinkgeldverbot
• Trinkgeldzahlung

 

Descendants

• → Yiddish: טרינקגעלט (trinkgelt)

Further reading

• “Trinkgeld” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Trinkgeld” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.
• “Trinkgeld” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Trinkgeld” in Duden online