pied piper of hamelin
n · noun
Simple meaning
The the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin, Lower Saxony.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pydpyperuhvamuhlinSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpaɪdpaɪpɚəvæməlɪn
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
n
The (also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany.
A figure in German folklore.
noun
The title character in a German folk tale and in a poem by Robert Browning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The (also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany.
Used this way, pied piper of hamelin is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in technical or specialist writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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