kleinster

Kleinster is a German adjective form meaning "smallest." It is the masculine nominative singular form of the adjective klein when used in the strong declension, i.e., without a determiner. In the standard paradigm, the corresponding strong forms are kleinster (masculine singular), kleinste (feminine singular and plural), and kleinstes (neuter singular).

In normal prose with a definite article, the superlative is realized as der kleinste Mann, die kleinste Stadt, das kleinste Kind. Here the ending -ste is used after the definite article, and the word kleinsten appears only in certain cases (e.g., genitive des kleinsten Mannes). With an indefinite article, the adjective takes the mixed/weak endings, so one would typically say ein kleiner Mann rather than ein kleinster Mann.

Kleinster can also occur as a nominalized adjective, acting as a noun meaning “the smallest one.” In that use, it is capitalized: Der Kleinste hat gewonnen. This nominal use is common in contexts such as rankings, captions, or headlines where brevity is preferred.

Etymology: Kleinster derives from the adjective klein, meaning small, with the standard Germanic practice of forming the superlative by adding a suffix that yields the form kleinster in the masculine strong paradigm. The word ultimately traces back to Old High German klein, from Proto-Germanic roots.

See also: German grammar, adjective declension, superlatives, nominalization.