Wende

wende | f.‘ Umkehr’, ahd. wentī (um 1000), mhd. wende.

Etymology 1

From Middle High German wende, from Old High German wendī; see wenden. Cognate to Dutch wende.

Noun

Wende f (genitive Wende, plural Wenden)

1. turn (change in temperament or circumstance)
2. turnaround (reversal of policy)
3. (nautical) tacking
4. (with definite article, historical) the process that opened the way to the unification of West and East Germany; that period (1989–90) in general

Declension

[ show ▼]Declension of Wende [feminine]

Derived terms

• Jahrhundertwende
• Kehrtwende
• Nachwendezeit
• Sonnenwende
• Zeitenwende

Etymology 2

From Middle High German wint, winde, from Old High German winid, from Proto-Germanic *winidaz. The newer e-form is said to have spread from Middle Low Germanwent.

Noun

Wende m (weak, genitive Wenden, plural Wenden, feminine Wendin)

1. (regional or dated) Sorb, Wend, Lusatian Slav (a member of the native West Slavic-speaking population in parts of Saxony and Brandenburg; male or unspecified sex) [ synonyms ▲]

   Synonyms: Sorbe, Lausitzer Slawe/Wende

2. (historical) a member (male or unspecified sex) of the Slavic tribes settling west of the Oder (along the Elbe) or their later linguistic remnants (outside of Sorbian areas until ca. 1700) [ synonym ▲]

   Synonym: Elbslawe

3. (archaic) a Slav in general (male or of unspecified sex) [ synonym ▲]

   Synonym: Slawe

Usage notes

• Nowadays Sorbs in Brandenburg (speaking the almost extinct Lower Sorbian) commonly call themselves Wenden in German, whereas speakers in Saxony (Upper Sorbian) almost never use the term. This distinction is recent.