Bindestrichland

German

Alternative forms

• Bindestrich-Land

Etymology

From Bindestrich (“hyphen”) +‎ Land (“state”). Originally used of North Rhine-Westphalia, which was created by the Allied occupation authorities by dividing the Prussian Rhine Province and joining its northern half to the province of Westphalia.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

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Noun

Bindestrichland n (strong, genitive Bindestrichlands or Bindestrichlandes, plural Bindestrichländer)

1. a state or political territory whose name contains a hyphen, with the implication that it has been arbitrarily created from merging two regions that share few historical and cultural ties

Usage notes

• Used especially of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and to a lesser degree of Baden-Württemberg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and Saxony-Anhalt.

Declension

Declension of Bindestrichland [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Bindestrichland	die	Bindestrichländer
genitive	eines	des	Bindestrichlands, Bindestrichlandes	der	Bindestrichländer
dative	einem	dem	Bindestrichland, Bindestrichlande1	den	Bindestrichländern
accusative	ein	das	Bindestrichland	die	Bindestrichländer

¹Now rare, see notes.