German English · revision 3145

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1387, Trevisa|origins=la Germānus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈdʒɜː.mən/, US /ˈdʒɝː.mən/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|Germānus]], plural Germānī,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) a name first found in Julius Caesar, who used Germānī for a group of tribes in northeastern Gaul.^(Etymonline) The name is of unknown origin and is considered neither Latin nor Germanic;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) it was not used by the Germanic peoples themselves, who used the word that became [[Deutsch]] (see [[Dutch]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) It may first have been the name of one tribe,^(Etymonline) 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”;^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)^(Hoad 1986) Barnhart finds these Celtic words a poor fit in form.^(Barnhart 1988) The adjective is from the noun,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) probably influenced by Latin Germānus.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A member of the ancient Germanic tribes: Middle English Germayns, before 1387, in Trevisa's translation of Higden's ''Polychronicon'',^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) in the passage “to þe Germans, þat beeþ Almayns”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle English the word meant only the ancient Teutons;^(Etymonline) the usual words for the people of Germany were Almain, from the early 14th century, via French, and Dutch.^(Etymonline) Shakespeare and Marlowe still use Almain for “German”.^(Etymonline) A native of Germany, in relation to the Holy Roman Empire, is from 1530^(Barnhart 1988) or the 1520s,^(Etymonline) and the adjective from 1552.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) The language is called German from 1748,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and ''High German'' is in English from 1823.^(Etymonline) Compounds include ''German measles'' (by 1856) and ''German shepherd'' (1922), short for German shepherd dog (1889), which translates German deutscher Schäferhund.^(Etymonline) ''Germanic'' is from 1633, and as the name of the language family from 1892, replacing Teutonic.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1387 – a member of the ancient Germanic tribes.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1530 – a native of Germany.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1552 – adjective, of Germany.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1633 – ''Germanic''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1748 – the German language.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1856 – ''German measles''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1922 – ''German shepherd''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A native, inhabitant or citizen of [[Germany]], or a person of German descent.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The Germanic [[language]] of Germany, Austria, part of Switzerland and other areas.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(historical)'' A member of any of the [[Germanic]] peoples of Roman times.^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of or relating to Germany, its people or its language.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==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,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from Old French germain, from Latin germānus “of the same parents, genuine”, related to germen “sprout”;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) its variant [[germane]] took the sense “relevant”.^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986) In the United States a ''german'' was also an elaborate dance for many couples, the cotillion, or a party for it.^(AHD) The pronunciation with “-ar-”, as in ''clerk'', was once fashionable in Britain.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}