Graupel

16th century. From Graupe (“hulled grain”) +‎ -el (diminutive suffix). Graupe is from Slavic, where the senses “hulled grain” and “hail” are both present. Compare Polish krupa, Czech kroupa, Serbo-Croatian krupa.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡʁaʊ̯pəl/

• Audio:

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• Hyphenation: Grau‧pel

Graupel f (genitive Graupel, plural Graupeln) or
Graupel (sometimes informally) m (strong, genitive Graupels, plural Graupel)

1. (meteorology) graupel; soft hail

   Synonym: Griesel

• The word was originally a feminine referring to a single flake of graupel and hence chiefly used in the plural Graupeln. However, the unchanged form Graupel has now become predominant. It may be construed as a plural, a feminine singular, or—at least informally—a masculine singular (on the model of words like Hagel, Regen, Schnee). The ambiguity is often circumvented by using the compound Graupelschauer.

• graupeln
• Graupelschauer

• → English: graupel

•   Graupel on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de
• “Graupel” in Duden online
• “Graupel” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache