-heit
German, suffix/-haɪ̯t/
-heit is spelled H-E-I-T (4 letters). -heit is a German feminine suffix meaning “Converts an adjective into a noun and usually denotes an abstract quality of the adjectival root. It is often equivalent to the English…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “das das Vorgenannte Umfassende”.
What does -heit mean in English?
suffix
- 1
feminineConverts an adjective into a noun and usually denotes an abstract quality of the adjectival root. It is often equivalent to the English suffixes -ness, -th, -ity, -dom
schön (“beautiful”) + -heit → Schönheit (“beauty”)
- 2
feminineConverts concrete nouns into abstract nouns
Kind (“child”) + -heit → Kindheit (“childhood”)
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
suffix: 1. das das Vorgenannte Umfassende
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
How do you pronounce -heit?
- /-haɪ̯t/
- [haɪ̯t]
- plural [haɪ̯tn̩]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to -heit
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.