Nibelung

noun

Ni·​be·​lung ˈnē-bə-ˌlu̇ŋ How to pronounce Nibelung (audio)
plural Nibelungs also Nibelungen ˈnē-bə-ˌlu̇ŋ-ən How to pronounce Nibelung (audio)
1
: a member of a race of dwarfs in Germanic legend
2
: any of the followers of Siegfried
3
: any of the Burgundian kings in the medieval German Nibelungenlied

Examples of Nibelung in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Aesop, Homer, the Ring of the Nibelung, the Celtic legends, and the three great Matters of Europe: the Matter of France, the body of stories around Charlemagne; the Matter of Rome, regarding the classical world; and the Matter of Britain, the legends surrounding the figure of King Arthur. Salman Rushdie, The New Yorker, 31 Oct. 2023 Large-scale martial arts organizations and events have proliferated for years in Germany, chief among them the Battle of the Nibelungs, which attracts hundreds of right-wing extremists from around Europe and the United States. Catie Edmondson, New York Times, 17 Sep. 2023 Over the years, the Dallas Opera has individually produced the four operas of Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelung, but never as a cycle. Dallas News, 4 Feb. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Nibelung.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

German

First Known Use

1814, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of Nibelung was in 1814

Dictionary Entries Near Nibelung

Cite this Entry

“Nibelung.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Nibelung. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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