Luftwaffe

English

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from German Luftwaffe (literally “air-weapon”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlʊftvafə/, /ˈlʊftwɑfə/

Proper noun

Luftwaffe

1. (military) The German air force, especially during the Second World War.
   • 2020 April 19, Neal Ascherson, “After the crisis, a new world won’t emerge as if by magic. We will have to fight for it”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Politicians insist that lockdown under coronavirus is like the experience of wartime. It’s not – except in one way, which I’ll come to. It’s so quiet, for one thing. War is noisy. Sirens, soldiers tramping past singing, Luftwaffe engines in the night sky.

   • 2021 September 8, Dr Joseph Brennan, “Electric tramways at the heart of our seaside story”, in RAIL, number 939, page 57:

     Owing to its location at the entrance to the River Tyne, South Shields was of strategic importance in the Second World War, especially to the merchant navy, and the town was heavily hit by a Luftwaffe strike in October 1941.

German

Etymology

From Luft (“air”) +‎ Waffe (“weapon”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlʊftˌvafə/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

Luftwaffe f (genitive Luftwaffe, plural Luftwaffen)

1. air force

   Synonyms: Luftstreitkräfte, Luftstreitmacht

   Die amerikanische Luftwaffe teilte mit, sie habe bei dem Angriff mehrere militärische sowie geheimdienstliche Ziele zerstört.

   The U.S. airforce informed that it had destroyed several military as well as intelligence targets in the strike.

Declension

Declension of Luftwaffe [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Luftwaffe	die	Luftwaffen
genitive	einer	der	Luftwaffe	der	Luftwaffen
dative	einer	der	Luftwaffe	den	Luftwaffen
accusative	eine	die	Luftwaffe	die	Luftwaffen

Proper noun

die Luftwaffe f (proper noun, usually definite, definite genitive der Luftwaffe)

1. (historical) The air force of the Third Reich.
2. The air force of the Federal Republic of Germany.
3. The air force of Switzerland.

Usage notes

• The air force of Austria is called Luftstreitkräfte, as was that of the German Democratic Republic.

Further reading

• “Luftwaffe” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Luftwaffe” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Luftwaffe” in Duden online
• Luftwaffe on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de