ober
German, preposition
ober is spelled O-B-E-R (4 letters) and appears 13 times per million words in written German, the 5,698th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Ober is a German preposition meaning “over, above” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Ober is a different word: “waiter (usually the head waiter, but sometimes any waiter)”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “oberhalb von”.
What does ober mean in English?
preposition
- 1
Austriaover, above
Ober der Eingangstür hängt ein Schild.
noun
- 1
datedmasculinewaiter (usually the head waiter, but sometimes any waiter)
- 2
masculineover knave, queen
prefix
- 1
over-
- 2
upper
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
noun: 1. ursprünglich Chefkellner, auch höfliche Anrede für einen einfachen Kellner 2. Bildkarte im deutschen Kartenspiel zwischen Unter und König
preposition: 1. oberhalb von
prefix: 1. in hohem Maße, sehr 2. durch und durch, vollkommen, kaum zu übertreffen 3. in Ableitungen als Hervorhebung einer übergeordneten Position, eines hohen Ranges
adjective: 1. sich über etwas befindend 2. das räumlich oben- oder darüberliegende 3. das von der Bedeutung, dem Rang her hoch bewertete
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of ober
- Obers genitive
- Obern dative definite plural
- ober positive
- am obersten superlative
- oberer positive nominative strong
- obere positive nominative strong
- oberes positive nominative strong
- oberen positive genitive strong
- oberem positive dative strong
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to ober
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is ober in German?
ober appears 13 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).