German

• Germ. (abbreviation)

A German.

From Latin Germānus, Germānī (“the peoples of Germānia”), as distinct from Gauls (in the writings of Caesar and Tacitus), and of uncertain ultimate origin (possibly Celtic/Gaulish).

Not related to german (“closely related”) or germane (from the Latin adjective germānus, through Old French).

Attested since at least 1520. Replaced the older terms Almain and Dutch (from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz) in English. Besides cognates of German, Almain, and Dutch, two other categories of words for the Germans in other languages are cognates of Saxon and descendants of Proto-Slavic *němьcь; see those entries for more.

The surname is generally from the noun, though sometimes confused with Herman, Hermann under Russian influence. As a German surname, Americanized from Germann. Compare Germán, Germain, Jerman.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɜː.mən/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɝ.mən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Ger‧man
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)mən

German (countable and uncountable, plural Germans)

1. (countable) A native or inhabitant of Germany; a person of German citizenship or nationality.
2. A member of the Germanic ethnic group which is the most populous ethnic group in Germany; a person of German descent.
3. (historical) A member of a Germanic tribe.

   Synonym: Teuton

   Rome was sacked by Germans and the Western Roman Empire collapsed.

4. A German wine.
   • 1858, Eliza Acton, Modern Cookery in All Its Branches: Reduced to a System of Easy Practice, for the Use of Private Families : in a Series of Receipts, which Have Been Strictly Tested, and are Given with the Most Minute Exactness : to which are Added Directions for Carving, Garnishing, and Setting Out the Table, with a Table of Weights and Measures, page 279:

     […] tie them tightly in a thickly floured cloth, and boil them for three hours and a half. We can recommend this as a remarkably light small rich pudding : it may be served with German, wine, or punch sauce.

   • 1996, Jim Ainsworth, Passport's Guide to Britain's Best Restaurants:

     The wine list harbours some great bottles, mature clarets and Burgundies as well as a clutch of fine Germans (gold-dust these days in restaurants) […]

5. (uncountable, US printing, rare, dated) A size of type between American and Saxon, 1+¹⁄₂-point type.
6. (MLE, slang) A Germany-produced car, a “German whip”.
   • 2021 May 21, “Plugged In Freestyle”, Big Tobz in Big Tobz & Blittz (lyrics), Fumez The Engineer (music)‎, 0:13–0:16:

     In my German, they calling me a baller (skrr)
     Got me feeling like Özil

7. (British, slang) A prison warder.
   • 1996, Angela Devlin, Prison Patter‎, Waterside Press, →ISBN:

     There are some 32 different terms for prison officers, from the humorously affectionate kanga(rhyming slang:kangaroo = screw) and the variants Scooby-Doo and Dr. Who via the mildly confrontational German (as if still the enemy over 50 years after World War II!) to the outright abuse of shit-parcel.

• (member of the German ethnic group): Deutscher (rare); Boche, Fritz, Hun, Jerry, Kraut (slang, offensive)

• European

German

1. (uncountable) An Indo-European (Indo-Germanic) language, primarily spoken in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, South Tyrol, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and a small part of Belgium.

   Synonym: (rare) Deutsch

   Meronyms: Low German (Plattdeutsch), High German

   German has three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter.

2. A surname.
3. A number of townships in the United States, listed under German Township.

German (comparative more German, superlative most German or Germanest)

German football supporters.

1. Of or relating to the nation of Germany.
   • 2001, Donald L. Niewyk, The Jews in Weimar Germany, →ISBN, page 31:

     In Prussia, always the most progressive of the German states during the Weimar years and a stronghold of the two parties, Jews could be found in virtually all administrative departments […] .

2. Of or relating to the natives or inhabitants of Germany; to people of German descent.

   Her German husband has blond hair.

   • 2005 May 23, Gavriel D. Rosenfeld, The World Hitler Never Made: Alternate History and the Memory of Nazism‎, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 182:

     If Demandt's essay served as a strident example of the German desire for normalcy, a more subtle example was provided by a brief allohistorical depiction of a Nazi victory in World War II written by German historian Michael Salewski in 1999.

   • 1889, Theodore S. Fay, The three Germanys: glimpses into their history, vol. II, p. 1270 (inside the index):

     Goths, a German tribe, 9; allied with other tribes against Rome, 39; [...]

3. Of, in or relating to the German language.

   Synonym: (rare) Deutsch

   Meronyms: Low German, High German

   Because the instructions were German, Yves couldn't read them.

   • 1816, George Henry Noehden, A Grammar of the German Language, 3rd edition, page 3:

     In this manner there existed, about the time of the Reformation, three grand divisions of the German language, viz. the Upper German (Ober Deutsch), the Low German (Nieder Deutsch, or Platt Deutsch), and lastly the High German (Hoch Deutsch).

   • 1838, Joseph Bosworth, A Dictionary of the Anglo-saxon Language, page xiii:

     To trace its progress, it will be necessary to enter into detail, and to examine the German language in its two great divisions, the Low and High German.

   • 1990, Charles V.J. Russ, Introduction, in: Charles V.J. Russ (ed.), The Dialects of Modern German: A Linguistic Survey, p. xviii (note: the work covers Frisian, Low and High German dialects):

     This volume is intended to provide a survey of the linguistic characteristics of modern German dialects [...]. These are defined geographically as those within the borders of the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, Austria, the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, the German-speaking part of Switzerland, and Alsace in France ([..]).

• Teutonic

• St Germans
• Wiktionary’s coverage of German terms
• Appendix:German Swadesh list for a Swadesh list of basic vocabulary words in German

• Leo's German - English Dictionary: from Department of Informatics of Technische Universität München
• ISO 639-1 code de, ISO 639-3 code deu (SIL)
• Ethnologue entry for German, deu ⁠

• Engram, Magner, Manger, engram, manger, ragmen

• IPA^(key): /ɡerman/, [ɡe̞r.mãn]

• Borrowed from Germán

German anim

1. a male given name

• Xarles Bidegain, Izendegia, 1999, Elkarlanean, Donostia, →ISBN, page 190

• Audio

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German n (strong, genitive Germans, plural Germane)

1. (organic chemistry) germane

German m

1. a male given name

• IPA^(key): /ɡěrmaːn/
• Hyphenation: Ger‧man

Gèrmān m (Cyrillic spelling Гѐрма̄н)

1. German (member of a Germanic tribe)