german

Forms

german m or n (feminine singular germană, masculine plural germani, feminine/neuter plural germane)^[1] An old form was gherman.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin Germānus (“German”), a learned word.^[5][3][2][1] Ciorănescu dates the borrowing to the 19th century;^[6][7] Marcu also names French germain.^[6][7] The Latin name, first used by Caesar and Tacitus, is of uncertain origin and is not the same word as germānus (“of the same parents”).^[1] The native word for a German is neamț.^[4][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1780, as adjective and noun: “German”, “a German”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word names the people of Germany and, in the plural, the ancient Germanic peoples of central, western and northern Europe; as an adjective it means “of Germany, German”, and the feminine germana is the German language.^[5][4] In Maramureș a german is a thick iron nail or a log fixed in a timber chute to slow down the logs.^[9] Its learned derivatives include germanism, quoted from Maiorescu, and germanofil, quoted from Iorga.^[3][6]

Timeline

• 1780 – the first record.^[2]
• 1893–1895 – Damé glosses it French Germain, Allemand.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (in the plural) The ancient Germanic peoples of central, western and northern Europe; one of these peoples.^[5][4]
2. A German, a person from Germany.^[5][1]
3. germană (feminine): the German language.^[5][4]

Adjective

1. Of Germany or the Germans;^[5][4][1] German.^[5][4][1]

Word family

• germanic
• germanism
• germanist
• germanistică
• germaniza
• germanofil
• germanofob
• antigerman

Related words

• neamț
• nemțesc

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. german
3. ^ a b c Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. german
4. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 986
5. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 435
6. ^ a b c Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. german
7. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. german
8. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 550
9. ^ Ștef, Dorin (2021), Dicționar de regionalisme și arhaisme din județul Maramureș, 3rd ed., Baia Mare, p. s.v. german
10. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. 1, s.v. german