germanus Latin · revision 3678

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=Ennius|origins=la germen}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ɡɛrˈmaː.nʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [d͡ʒerˈmaː.nus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''germānus''' (feminine germāna, neuter germānum, adverb germānē); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is derived from [[germen]] “sprout, offshoot”, perhaps from *germ(i)nānus.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Gaffiot 2016) It is unrelated to the ethnic name [[Germanus|alt=Germānus]] “German”, which is of uncertain origin.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates the adjective from Ennius (204–169 BC) and the noun “brother” from Accius.^(Köbler 2010) The Capitoline Fasti record of two men that they “were full brothers”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was used of brothers and sisters with the same father and mother, full brothers and sisters, as Plautus' twins “born of one mother and one father on one day”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) From this it meant brotherly or sisterly, as in Plautus' “you are a friend to me like a brother”, and as a noun ''germanus'' and ''germana'' meant brother and sister.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ It came to mean true, genuine or real, as Cicero's “true Campanians” and “pure irony”.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(OLD 2012) As “brother” it survives in Spanish ''hermano'' and Portuguese ''irmão''.^(Wiktionary) English ''german'' “of the same parents” came through Old French about 1300, and ''germane'' directly from Latin in the mid-14th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of twins with the same parents.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses ''germanus'' as a noun, “brother”.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in the sense “genuine”.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1300 – English ''german'' “of the same parents” is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Having the same parents, full (brother or sister).^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Brotherly, sisterly.^(OLD 2012)

+ # True, [[m|en|genuine]], real.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A full [[m|en|brother]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[congermanus]]

+ * [[germāna]]

+ * [[germānitās]]

+ * [[germānitus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[germen]]

+ * [[en|german]]

+ * [[en|germane]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}