German

Meanings

Noun

• A native or inhabitant of Germany; a person of German citizenship or nationality.
• A member of the Germanic ethnic group which is the most populous ethnic group in Germany; a person of German descent.
• A member of a Germanic tribe.
• A German wine.
• A size of type between American and Saxon, -point type.
• A Germany-produced car, a “German whip”.

Proper Noun

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

Adjective

• Of or relating to the nation of Germany.
• Of or relating to the natives or inhabitants of Germany; to people of German descent.
• Of, in or relating to the German language.

Related

Similar words

• Boche, Fritz, Hun, Jerry, Kraut
• Teutonic
• Deutsch

Broader meaning words

• European

Origin

• 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 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.