Standard Lemma guide

nihilartikel

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈnaɪ.(h)ɪlˌɑɹt.ɪkl̩/
  • /ˈniː.hiːl.ɑːɹtˌiː.kəl/ copying Latin and German

1

noun

Meaning 1

A deliberately fictitious entry in an encyclopedia or academic work, generally identifiable as false, usually included to brand the intellectual property so copies can be identified.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • 2005 May 1, Eve Maler, “The Language Log”, Pushing String, at www.xmlgrrl.com https://web.archive.org/web/20061111100505/http://www.xmlgrrl.com/blog/archives/2005/05/01/the-language-log/ The post never does find the word it’s looking for, but it eventually alights on a discussion of the Nihilartikel, a fake dictionary or encyclopedia entry created for playful or copyright-trap reasons.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Mountweazel

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from German Nihilartikel, apparently coined as a hoax in the German-language Wikipedia in 2003 and later picked up by the English Wikipedia, from where it spread to blogs, books, etc., which are now used again as references for these sites, leading to a form of citogenesis.