gemsi

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈcɛmsɪ]

  Rhymes: -ɛmsɪ

Etymology 1

Noun

gemsi m (genitive singular gemsa, nominative plural gemsar)

1. one-year-old sheep

Declension

Declension of gemsi (masculine)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	gemsi	gemsinn	gemsar	gemsarnir
accusative	gemsa	gemsann	gemsa	gemsana
dative	gemsa	gemsanum	gemsum	gemsunum
genitive	gemsa	gemsans	gemsa	gemsanna

Derived terms

• vandræðagemsi (“troublemaker”)

Related terms

• gemlingur

Etymology 2

A metathetic vocalization of GSM (“Global System for Mobile communications”).

Fell into disuse around the time when smartphones became ubiquitous (c. 2010), which are simply termed sími or farsími.

Noun

gemsi m (genitive singular gemsa, nominative plural gemsar)

1. (informal) cell phone, mobile phone (but not a smartphone) [late 1990s – early 2010s]

   Synonyms: farsími, GSM-sími

Declension

Declension of gemsi (masculine)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	gemsi	gemsinn	gemsar	gemsarnir
accusative	gemsa	gemsann	gemsa	gemsana
dative	gemsa	gemsanum	gemsum	gemsunum
genitive	gemsa	gemsans	gemsa	gemsanna

Further reading

• “gemsi” in the Dictionary of Modern Icelandic (in Icelandic) and ISLEX (in the Nordic languages)