German

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈdʒɜː.mən/, US /ˈdʒɝː.mən/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin Germānus, plural Germānī,^[2][3][4] a name first found in Julius Caesar, who used Germānī for a group of tribes in northeastern Gaul.^[2] The name is of unknown origin and is considered neither Latin nor Germanic;^[2][3] it was not used by the Germanic peoples themselves, who used the word that became Deutsch (see Dutch).^[3][2] It may first have been the name of one tribe,^[2] and it has been suggested that the Gauls gave it to their eastern neighbors, comparing Old Irish gair “neighbor” or the Old Irish verb for “to shout”;^[2][5][6] Barnhart finds these Celtic words a poor fit in form.^[3] The adjective is from the noun,^[2][3] probably influenced by Latin Germānus.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A member of the ancient Germanic tribes: Middle English Germayns, before 1387, in Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon,^[3][2] in the passage “to þe Germans, þat beeþ Almayns”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word meant only the ancient Teutons;^[2] the usual words for the people of Germany were Almain, from the early 14th century, via French, and Dutch.^[2] Shakespeare and Marlowe still use Almain for “German”.^[2] A native of Germany, in relation to the Holy Roman Empire, is from 1530^[3] or the 1520s,^[2] and the adjective from 1552.^[3][7] The language is called German from 1748,^[2][7] and High German is in English from 1823.^[2] Compounds include German measles (by 1856) and German shepherd (1922), short for German shepherd dog (1889), which translates German deutscher Schäferhund.^[2] Germanic is from 1633, and as the name of the language family from 1892, replacing Teutonic.^[3]

Timeline

• before 1387 – a member of the ancient Germanic tribes.^[3]
• 1530 – a native of Germany.^[3]
• 1552 – adjective, of Germany.^[3][7]
• 1633 – Germanic.^[3]
• 1748 – the German language.^[2][7]
• 1856 – German measles.^[2]
• 1922 – German shepherd.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A native, inhabitant or citizen of Germany, or a person of German descent.
2. The Germanic language of Germany, Austria, part of Switzerland and other areas.
3. (historical) A member of any of the Germanic peoples of Roman times.

Adjective

1. Of or relating to Germany, its people or its language.

Word family

• anti-German
• Germanism
• Germanize
• Germanophobe
• Germantown
• non-German
• High German
• Pennsylvania German

Related words

• Germanic
• Germany
• germane
• Teutonic
• Dutch
• Deutsch
• Alemannic

Usage notes

A separate lowercase german, “having the same parents” (as in brother-german) or “being the child of one's uncle or aunt” (as in cousin-german, a first cousin), is from about 1300,^[3][2] from Old French germain, from Latin germānus “of the same parents, genuine”, related to germen “sprout”;^[3][2] its variant germane took the sense “relevant”.^[7][6] In the United States a german was also an elaborate dance for many couples, the cotillion, or a party for it.^[8] The pronunciation with “-ar-”, as in clerk, was once fashionable in Britain.^[7]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin