Kamerad

See also: kamerad

German

Etymology

Borrowed from French camarade in the 16th century, ultimately from Latin camera (“chamber”), from Ancient Greek καμάρα (kamára).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaməˈʁaːt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Ka‧me‧rad
• Rhymes: -aːt

Noun

Kamerad m (weak, genitive Kameraden, plural Kameraden)

1. (military) comrade, a fellow soldier
   • 1929, Horst Wessel (lyrics and music), “Horst-Wessel-Lied”:

     Kam'raden, die Rotfront und Reaktion erschossen,
     Marschier'n im Geist in unser'n Reihen mit.

     Comrades shot by the Red Front and reactionaries
     March in spirit within our ranks.

2. comrade, a fellow, a companion
3. (colloquial) a guy, a fellow
4. (slang) a neo-nazi, a right-wing extremist

Usage notes

• Does not carry the association with socialism or communism that 'comrade' has in English. (See Genosse for the German equivalent.)
• On the contrary, due to its primary usage as a military term, it is used a term of address among right wing groups and can be used as a moniker for their members. However, the association is not inherent to the word itself, which is a neutral term in regular usage, but rather understood from context.
• Kamerad has historically been used as a truce or surrender word.

Declension

Declension of Kamerad [masculine, weak]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Kamerad	die	Kameraden
genitive	eines	des	Kameraden	der	Kameraden
dative	einem	dem	Kameraden	den	Kameraden
accusative	einen	den	Kameraden	die	Kameraden

Derived terms

• Arbeitskamerad
• Kameradschaft
• Klassenkamerad
• Sportkamerad

See also

• Waffengefährte

Descendants

• → Polish: kamrat

Further reading

• “Kamerad” in Duden online
• “Kamerad” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache