{"id":12056,"date":"2020-09-30T23:00:53","date_gmt":"2020-09-30T23:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=12056"},"modified":"2020-09-30T19:44:02","modified_gmt":"2020-09-30T19:44:02","slug":"the-german-word-muttermal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/the-german-word-muttermal\/","title":{"rendered":"The German Word ‘Muttermal’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guten Tag! Wie geht\u2019s? Today we\u2019re going to look at an interesting German word \u2013 das Muttermal.<\/p>\n

Das Muttermal<\/h3>\n
\"\"

Image via Pixabay.<\/p><\/div>\n

Das Muttermal<\/strong> is the German word for a birthmark or mole<\/strong> \u2013 as in, the moles on your skin, not the mole the animal (this is called der Maulwurf<\/strong> in German!).<\/p>\n

The literal translation of Muttermal is \u2018mother sign\u2019<\/strong> (die Mutter + das Mal). However, it\u2019s a very interesting word because Mal means something different in today\u2019s German than it did back in the 16. Jahrhundert<\/strong> (16th Century), when it first came about. So, it would be more accurate to say that the word Muttermal translated to \u2018mother sign\u2019 back then.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the 16th Century, the word das Mal primarily meant \u2018sign\u2019- as in, a sign of wealth, a sign from God, etc. Nowadays, you\u2019d call a sign das Zeichen<\/strong> in German, and the word das Mal<\/em> is used primarily to describe a fixed point in time (however, it does also carry the similar translation of ‘mark’). For example:<\/p>\n

Das war das letzte Mal.<\/em>
\nThat was the last time.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are actually many ways to use the word Mal, but for the sake of keeping things simple, I will just mention this meaning for now. (Let me know if you\u2019d like a separate post about the word Mal!)<\/p>\n

\"\"

Photo by Seyi Ariyo on Unsplash<\/p><\/div>\n

So, back to birthmarks. In the 16th Century, a mole\/birthmark was called das Muttermal \u2013 a \u2018mother sign\u2019. What were they meant to be signs of, exactly? Apparently, they were signs of a mother\u2019s cravings during die Schwangerschaft<\/strong> (pregnancy). People believed that, for example, if a birthmark was in the shape of a grape, that meant the mother ate a lot of grapes during her pregnancy. Another view was that a birthmark signified that the mother had done something wrong during her pregnancy. Either way, moles and birthmarks were seen as being influenced by the mother, hence the name Muttermal.<\/em><\/p>\n

Related words and vocabulary:<\/h3>\n

Die Sommersprosse \u2013 freckle (lit: \u2018summer bud\u2019)
\nDer Leberfleck \u2013 liver spot (often used interchangeably with Muttermal)
\nDer Pigmentfleck \u2013 pigmentation mark
\nDas Feuermal \u2013 red pigmentation mark, lit: \u2018fire sign\u2019 (also der Portweinfleck, after the English port wine stain)
\nDie Haut \u2013 skin
\nDer Hautkrebs \u2013 skin cancer
\nDer Hautarzt – dermatologist<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Guten Tag! Wie geht\u2019s? Today we\u2019re going to look at an interesting German word \u2013 das Muttermal. Das Muttermal Das Muttermal is the German word for a birthmark or mole \u2013 as in, the moles on your skin, not the mole the animal (this is called der Maulwurf in German!). The literal translation of Muttermal…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":12057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[65,337680,8883,95131,451644,95066,376023,473457,257595,34603,13],"class_list":["post-12056","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-language","tag-etymology","tag-german-etymology","tag-german-history","tag-german-language","tag-german-words","tag-history-2","tag-language","tag-language-history","tag-motherhood","tag-pregnancy","tag-vocabulary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t