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die Ampel

noun · /ˈʔampl̩/ ·
Etymology

From Middle High German ampel, ampolle, ampulle, from Old High German ampla, ampulla (“vessel”), from Proto-West Germanic *ampullā (“flask, cruse”). The sense development was vessel → hanging lamp (in or shaped like a vessel) → traffic light. Doublet of Ampulle.

Translation

  1. traffic light feminine
  2. ellipsis of Ampelkoalition German, abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, feminine, informal

    Alles ist möglich. Das ist bislang die Botschaft, die führende Sozialdemokraten in Berlin und in Düsseldorf verbreiten. Eine Ampel mit FDP und Grünen, eine Minderheitsregierung, Neuwahlen, […]

    Everything is possible. That is the message that is spread up to now by leading Social Democrats in Berlin and Düsseldorf. A "traffic light coalition" with the FDP and Green Party, a minority government, new elections, […]

    Die Ampel hat es vergeigt: Die Fraktionen von SPD, Grünen und FDP im Bundestag hätten verhindern können, dass die AfD den Vorsitzenden des Innenausschusses stellt.

    The "traffic light" [government] screwed up: The factions of SPD, Greens, and FDP in the Bundestag [parliament] could have prevented the AfD from getting one of theirs into the position of Chief of the Committee for the Interior.

  3. ceiling lamp (lamp which hangs from the ceiling) feminine
  4. container (e.g. for a plant) which hangs from the ceiling feminine

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nominative Ampel Ampeln
Accusative Ampel Ampeln
Dative Ampel Ampeln
Genitive Ampel Ampeln