vaffel – Norwegian Bokmål noun declension

Norwegian Bokmål noun forms of vaffel

Noun: vaffel
Gender: Masculine Hyphenation:

Indefinite

Sg.vaffel
Pl.vafler

Definite

Sg.vaffelen
Pl.vaflene

Sample Sentences

  • hun bager gjerne vafler til dig (She is happy to bake waffles for you.) [1908, Sigrid Undset, Den lykkelige alder, page 20:]
  • [hun] blev trakteret med varme vafler (She was treated to hot waffles.) [1922, Gabriel Scott, Emanuel, page 118:]
  • så kom en vogn med vafler, og saft på små karafler (Then came a cart with waffles and juice in small carafes.) [1995, André Bjerke, Morovers, page 4:]
  • en døgngammel vaffel (a day-old waffle) [2000, Karin Sveen, Klassereise, page 56:]
  • på menyen står det blant annet norske og belgiske vafler, pannekaker, smoothier, sandwicher og salater (The menu includes, among other things, Norwegian and Belgian waffles, pancakes, smoothies, sandwiches, and salads.) [2021 May 27, Sandnesposten, page 21:]
  • franske vafler (filled puff-pastry biscuits)

Etymology

1. Borrowed from Middle Low German wafel (“waffle; waffle iron”), whose basic meaning referred to a cake or baking iron patterned like a honeycomb. The Middle Low German word is possibly derived from Old High German wabo (“honeycomb”) or waba, and is related to veve (“to weave”), German weben, Dutch weven and English weave. The probable semantic development was “woven or interlaced structure” → “honeycomb or honeycomb pattern” → “patterned baking iron” → “the cake baked in it”.
2. The needlework sense is a shortening of vaffelsøm (“waffle stitch”), while the carpet-underlay sense is a shortening of sviktvaffel (“waffle-patterned carpet underlay”). Both are named after their characteristic grid pattern.
3. The word is documented in Norwegian by 1737 in the compound Vaffel Kagjern (“waffle-cake irons”) in a probate inventory from Alstahaug.
4. Compare Danish vaffel, Swedish våffla, Dutch wafel, German Waffel, English waffle and French gaufre (“waffle”). See: English Nouns 'weave', Danish Nouns 'vaffel', Swedish Nouns 'våffla', Dutch Nouns 'wafel', German Nouns 'Waffel', English Nouns 'waffle', French Nouns 'gaufre'.

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