Bönhase

German Alternative forms de Böhnhase Etymology From de gml bönhase, gml bonehase cat, from gml böne loft, attic + gml hase hare, the former being cognate of de Bühne stage. The word is first attested in the early 14th century as a personal name (and is thus probably even older). Since the 15th century it meant “illegally working craftsperson”. The sense “cat” is only attested later on, but there can be little doubt that it is the original meaning. Compare de Dachhase, en roof rabbit, etc., which in fact must be loan translations of the Low German unless there were some ancient source for all of them. It was formerly supposed that the illegal workers were called de Bönhasen as a pun on grc βάναυσος worker in an ignoble trade, whence later de Banause, but this is highly unlikely since Greek studies were only just being revived in the 15th century. More probably these workers were simply compared to stray cats who holed up in lofts and fled when chased (as they commonly were by the members of the official guilds). Pronunciation de /ˈbøːnˌhaːzə/ de De-Bönhase.ogg <<Germany>> (<<Berlin>>) Noun m.weak de North Germany humorous archaic cat; roof rabbit de Dachhase de North Germany chiefly historic A skilled manual worker or craftsperson who works illegally, originally without the concession of the respective guild. de North Germany botcher; bungler incompetent worker de Pfuscher Stümper Declension m.weak Related terms de Bühne de Hase Further reading