Pumpernickel
German, noun/ˈpʊmpərˌnɪkəl/
Pumpernickel is spelled P-U-M-P-E-R-N-I-C-K-E-L (12 letters) and appears about once in every 4 million words in written German, the 101,039th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Pumpernickel is a German masculine noun meaning “a type of sourdough rye bread with a strong, sweetish flavor; coarse, brittle, and dark in color; native to north-western Germany…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “westfälische Schwarzbrot-Spezialität aus Roggenschrot”.
What does Pumpernickel mean in English?
noun
- 1
masculineneutera type of sourdough rye bread with a strong, sweetish flavor; coarse, brittle, and dark in color; native to north-western Germany, especially Westphalia
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
noun: 1. westfälische Schwarzbrot-Spezialität aus Roggenschrot
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 Pumpernickel
- Pumpernickels genitive
- Pumpernickeln dative definite plural
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce Pumpernickel?
- /ˈpʊmpərˌnɪkəl/
- [ˈpʊm.pɐˌnɪ.kl̩]
- [ˈpʊmpɐˌnɪkl̩]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is Pumpernickel in German?
Pumpernickel appears about once in every 4 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).