Grobian

See also: grobian

German

Etymology

15th century in the form Grobianus, shortened by the 16th century. Humorous formation from grob (“coarse”) +‎ Latin -iānus. Compare Schlendrian and further Dummerjan, Liederjan (also Dummrian, Liedrian).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈɡroːbi̯aːn/, [ˈɡʁoː.biˌaːn], (seldom) [ˈɡʁoːˌbjaːn]
Audio: (file)

Noun

Grobian m (strong, genitive Grobians or (very rare) Grobianes, plural Grobiane)

boor, brute, ruffian
Synonyms: Flegel, Lümmel, Raubein, Rohling, Rowdy, Rüpel, Wüstling
- 1819, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “Dem Schenken”, in West–östlicher Divan‎^[1]; republished as Edward Dowden, transl., West-Eastern Divan, 1914:
  Setze mir nicht, du Grobian, / Mir den Krug so derb vor die Nase
  Clown, do not clap the vessel that you bear / In such rough fashion here beneath my nose!

Declension

Declension of Grobian [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Grobian	die	Grobiane
genitive	eines	des	Grobians, Grobianes	der	Grobiane
dative	einem	dem	Grobian, Grobiane¹	den	Grobianen
accusative	einen	den	Grobian	die	Grobiane

¹Now rare, see notes.

Descendants

→ Belarusian: грубія́н (hrubiján)
→ Czech: hrubián
→ English: grobian
→ Norwegian: grobian
→ Polish: grubianin
→ Romanian: grobian
→ Russian: грубия́н (grubiján) (likely via Polish or Czech)
→ Swedish: grobian
→ Ukrainian: грубія́н (hrubiján) (likely via Polish or Czech)