hohe

Hohe is the inflected form of the German adjective hoch, meaning high or tall. It is used before nouns and its ending changes according to gender, number, and determiner. For example, eine hohe Mauer describes a high wall (feminine singular with an indefinite article), and hohe Berge describes high mountains (plural without a determiner). With a definite article the form changes to die hohen Berge in the plural.

Etymology and usage: The word Hoch comes from the Germanic roots found in Old High German hôh and is cognate with related forms in other Germanic languages, such as Dutch hoog and English high. In modern German, several inflected forms arise depending on case, number, and determiners; hohe is one of those forms used in certain feminine singular and plural contexts, as shown above.

Geographic and toponymic usage: Beyond ordinary grammar, hohe occurs in geographic names and is often capitalized as part of a proper noun. Notable examples include Hohe Tauern, a major mountain range in the eastern Alps spanning Austria’s states of Carinthia, Salzburg, and Tyrol; Hohe Wand, a prominent hill and cliff area near Vienna; and Hohe Salve, a peak in the Tyrolean Alps. In these names, the word functions as an adjective meaning “high,” forming a fixed toponym rather than a simple descriptive phrase.

See also: hoch, the base form of the adjective; inflected forms include hohe, hohen, hohem, and others depending on grammatical context.