German

See also: german, germán, and Germán

English

Alternative forms

• Germ. (abbreviation)

A German.

Etymology

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 (“closely related”) 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.

The surname is generally from the noun, though sometimes confused with Herman, Hermann under Russian influence. As a German surname, Americanized from Germann. Compare Germán, Germain, Jerman.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɜː.mən/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɝ.mən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Ger‧man
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)mən

Noun

German (countable and uncountable, plural Germans)

2. (countable) A citizen or national of Germany.

   Synonyms: Deutscher (rare); (the following are informal and derogatory) Boche, Fritz, Hun, Jerry, Kraut

   • 2023 February 1, Scottie Andrew, “The bizarre history of Groundhog Day”, in CNN‎^[1], archived from the original on 18 July 2024:

     The holiday evolved over centuries as it was observed by different groups, from the Celts to Germans to the Pennsylvania Dutch and eventually, by those in other parts of the US.

3. (countable) a person not native of Germany whose mother tongue is German
4. (historical) A member of a Germanic tribe.

   Synonym: Teuton

   Rome was sacked by Germans and the Western Roman Empire collapsed.

5. A German wine.
   • 1858, Eliza Acton, Modern Cookery in All Its Branches: Reduced to a System of Easy Practice, for the Use of Private Families : in a Series of Receipts, which Have Been Strictly Tested, and are Given with the Most Minute Exactness : to which are Added Directions for Carving, Garnishing, and Setting Out the Table, with a Table of Weights and Measures, page 279:

     […] tie them tightly in a thickly floured cloth, and boil them for three hours and a half. We can recommend this as a remarkably light small rich pudding : it may be served with German, wine, or punch sauce.

   • 1996, Jim Ainsworth, Passport's Guide to Britain's Best Restaurants:

     The wine list harbours some great bottles, mature clarets and Burgundies as well as a clutch of fine Germans (gold-dust these days in restaurants) […]

7. (uncountable, US printing, rare, dated) A size of type between American and Saxon, 1+¹⁄₂-point type.
8. (MLE, slang) A Germany-produced car, a “German whip”.
   • 2021 May 21, “Plugged In Freestyle”, Big Tobz in Big Tobz & Blittz (lyrics), Fumez The Engineer (music)‎^[2], 0:13–0:16:

     In my German, they calling me a baller (skrr)
     Got me feeling like Özil

9. (UK, slang) A prison warder.
   • 1996, Angela Devlin, Prison Patter‎^[3], Waterside Press, →ISBN:

     There are some 32 different terms for prison officers, from the humorously affectionate kanga(rhyming slang:kangaroo = screw) and the variants Scooby-Doo and Dr. Who via the mildly confrontational German (as if still the enemy over 50 years after World War II!) to the outright abuse of shit-parcel.

10. Ellipsis of German cockroach.

Derived terms

Terms derived from German (common noun)

• Afro-German
• High German
• Judeo-German
• Pennsylvania German
• Swiss German, Swiss-German
• Volga German
• Zipser German

Translations

German citizen or national

• Abenaki: Alemôn
• Afrikaans: Duitser (af)
• Albanian: gjerman (sq) m, gjermane f
• Arabic: أَلْمَانِيّ m (ʔalmāniyy), أَلْمَانِيَّة (ar) f (ʔalmāniyya)
• Armenian: գերմանացի (hy) (germanacʻi)
• Aromanian: ghirman m, ghirmanã f, gherman m, ghermanã f
• Asturian: alemán (ast) m, alemana (ast) f
• Azerbaijani:

  Arabic: نمسه (nemse)

  Latin: alman (az)

• Basque: alemaniar (eu), aleman (eu)
• Belarusian: не́мец m (njémjec), не́мка f (njémka), не́мцы pl (njémcy)
• Bengali: জার্মান (bn) (jarman), আলমানী (bn) (almani) (obsolete), এলেমান (bn) (eleman) (obsolete)
• Breton: Alaman (br) m
• Bulgarian: герма́нец (bg) m (germánec), герма́нка f (germánka), герма́нче (bg) n (germánče), не́мец (bg) m (némec), немки́ня (bg) f (nemkínja), немки́нче (bg) n (nemkínče), не́мче (bg) n (némče)
• Catalan: alemany (ca) m, alemanya (ca) f
• Chechen: немцо (nemco), лоьмсо (lömso), девто (devto)
• Cherokee: ᎠᏛᏥ (chr) (advtsi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 德國人 / 德国人 (zh) (Déguórén)

• Chuvash: нимӗҫ m or f (nimĕś)
• Czech: Němec (cs) m, Němka (cs) f
• Danish: tysker (da) c, tyskere pl
• Dhivehi: އަލްމާނީ (almānī)
• Dutch: Duitser (nl) m
• Esperanto: germano (eo), germanino (female)
• Estonian: sakslane (et)
• Faroese: týskari m, týskur m (historically)
• Finnish: saksalainen (fi), saksatar (fi) (female)
• Fox: Chêmanîha
• French: Allemand (fr) m, Allemande (fr) f
• Frisian:

  West Frisian: Dútser (fy) c (man), Dútse (fy) c (female)

• Galician: alemán (gl) m, alemá f
• Georgian: გერმანელი (germaneli)
• German: Deutscher (de) m (der Deutsche), Deutsche (de) f
• Greek: Γερμανός (el) m (Germanós), Γερμανίδα (el) f (Germanída)
• Hawaiian: Kelemānia
• Hebrew: גֶּרְמָנִי (he) m (germaní)
• Hindi: जरमन (hi) m (jarman), जर्मन (hi) m (jarman), अलमानी (almānī) (historical)
• Hungarian: német (hu)
• Icelandic: Þjóðverji (is) m
• Ido: Germano (io), Germaniano (io)
• Irish: Gearmánach m
• Italian: tedesco (it) m, tedesca (it) f
• Japanese: ドイツ人 (ja) (ドイツじん, Doitsujin)
• Kazakh: неміс (nemis)
• Korean: 독일 사람 (dogil saram), 독일인(獨逸人) (ko) (dogirin), 도이췰란드 사람 (doichwillandeu saram) (North Korea)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: Almanî

• Kven: tyskäläinen
• Kyrgyz: немис (ky) (nemis)
• Latvian: vācietis (lv) m, vāciete f, fricis m (pejorative)
• Limburgish: pruus (li) m
• Lithuanian: vokietis (lt) m, vokietė (lt) f
• Louisiana Creole: alman
• Macedonian: Германец m (Germanec), Германка f (Germanka), Немец m (Nemec) (obsolete)
• Marathi: जर्मन (jarman)
• Menominee: a·nema·w
• Miami: meelawaatawia
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: герман хүн (german xün)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tysker (no) m

  Nynorsk: tyskar (nn) m

• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: нѣмьць m (němĭcĭ)

• Ossetian: немыцаг (nemycag)
• Pashto: آلماني m or f (ālmaní)
• Pawnee: Taacpara (male; Skiri dialect), Ctaacpara (female; Skiri dialect)
• Persian: آلمانی (fa) (âlmâni)
• Polish: Niemiec (pl) m pers, Niemka (pl) f
• Portuguese: alemão (pt) m, alemã (pt) f
• Romanian: german (ro) m, germancă f, neamț (ro) m, nemțoaică (ro) f
• Romansh: Tudestg m, Tudestga f (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran), Tudas-ch m, Tudas-cha f (Puter), Tudais-ch m, Tudais-cha f (Vallader), Germanais m, Germanaisa f (Puter, Vallader)
• Russian: не́мец (ru) m (némec), не́мка (ru) f (némka), герма́нец (ru) m (germánec), герма́нка (ru) f (germánka)
• Scottish Gaelic: Gearmailteach m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Не́мац m, Није́мац m, Нѐмица f, Њѐмица f

  Latin: Némac m, Nijémac (sh) m, Nèmica f, Njèmica f

• Sicilian: tudiscu (scn) m, tudisca f
• Slovak: Nemec (sk) m, Nemka (sk) f
• Slovene: Némec (sl) m, Némka f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: Nimc m, Nimcowka f

  Upper Sorbian: Němc m, Němka f

• Spanish: alemán (es) m, alemana (es) f
• Swahili: Mjerumani (sw)
• Swedish: tysk (sv) c, tyska (sv) c (female)
• Tajik: немис (nemis), олмонӣ (tg) (olmoni)
• Tamil: ஜெர்மன் (ta) (jermaṉ)
• Telugu: జర్మను (jarmanu)
• Turkish: Alman (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: آلامان (Alaman)

• Turkmen: nemes
• Ukrainian: ні́мець (uk) m (nímecʹ), ні́мка f (nímka)
• Unami: Chìchëman
• Urdu: جرمن m or f (jarman)
• Uyghur: نېمىس (nëmis)
• Uzbek: nemis (uz)
• Vietnamese: người Đức
• Welsh: Almaenwr (cy) m
• Yiddish: דײַטש (yi) m (daytsh)

ethnic German

• Abenaki: Alemôn
• Afrikaans: Duitser (af)
• Armenian: գերմանացի (hy) (germanacʻi)
• Bengali: জার্মান (bn) (jarman), আলমানী (bn) (almani) (obsolete), এলেমান (bn) (eleman) (obsolete)
• Bulgarian: герма́нец (bg) m (germánec), герма́нка f (germánka), герма́нче (bg) n (germánče)
• Catalan: germànic (ca)
• Chechen: немцо (nemco), лоьмсо (lömso), девто (devto)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 德意志人 (zh) (déyìzhìrén)

• Chuvash: нимӗҫ (nimĕś)
• Czech: Germán (cs) m
• Finnish: saksalainen (fi), saksatar (fi) (female)
• French: Allemand (fr) m, Allemande (fr) f
• Frisian:

  West Frisian: Dútser (fy) c (male), Dútse (fy) c (female)

• Galician: xermánico (gl) m
• Georgian: გერმანელი (germaneli)
• German: Deutscher (de) m, Deutsche (de) f
• Hebrew: גרמני (he) m (ger'manee)
• Irish: Gearmánach m
• Navajo: Béésh Bichʼahii
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tysker (no) m

  Nynorsk: tyskar (nn) m

• Persian: ژرمن (fa) (žerman)
• Polish: Niemiec (pl) m, Niemka (pl) f
• Portuguese: germânico (pt) m, germânica (pt) f
• Romanian: german (ro) m, germană (ro) f
• Romansh: Tudestg m, Tudestga f (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran), Tudas-ch m, Tudas-cha f (Puter), Tudais-ch m, Tudais-cha f (Vallader), Germanais m, Germanaisa f (Puter, Vallader)
• Russian: не́мец (ru) m (némec), не́мка (ru) f (némka)
• Scottish Gaelic: Gearmailteach m
• Sicilian: girmànicu m, girmànica f
• Turkish: Alman (tr)
• Unami: Chìchëman
• Welsh: Almaenwr (cy) m
• Yiddish: דײַטש (yi) m (daytsh)

member of a Germanic tribe

• Afrikaans: Germaan
• Arabic: جِرْمَانِيّ m (jirmāniyy), جِرْمَانِيَّة f (jirmāniyya), جِرْمَانِيُّون m pl (jirmāniyyūn)
• Armenian: գերման (hy) (german)
• Bengali: জার্মানীয় (jarmaniẏo)
• Bulgarian: герма́нци (bg) pl (germánci), герма́ни pl (germáni)
• Catalan: germànic (ca)
• Chechen: германхо (germanxo), девто (devto), лоьмсо (lömso)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 日耳曼人 (rìěrmànrén)

• Chuvash: герман m or f (german)
• Czech: Germán (cs) m
• Dutch: Germaan (nl) m, Germaanse (nl) f
• Faroese: germani m
• Finnish: germaani (fi)
• French: Germain (fr) m, Germaine (fr) f

  Old French: Aleman

• Frisian:

  West Frisian: Germaan c (male), Germaanse c (female)

• Galician: xermano m, xermana f
• German: Germane (de) m, Germanin (de) f
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: Γερμανός m (Germanós)

• Icelandic: Germani m
• Italian: germano (it) m, germana (it) f
• Khmer: អាល្លឺម៉ង់ (km) (aallɨɨmɑŋ)
• Latin: Germanicus (la) m, Germanica f
• Lithuanian: germanas m, germanė f
• Macedonian: Герман m (German), Германка f (Germanka)
• Malay: Jermanik
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: germaner m

  Nynorsk: germanar m

• Pashto: المانی m (almânay), المانۍ f (almânëy)
• Persian: ژرمن (fa) (žerman)
• Polish: Germanin (pl) m, Germanka (pl) f
• Portuguese: germano (pt) m, germana (pt) f
• Romanian: germanic (ro)
• Russian: герма́нец (ru) m (germánec), герма́нка (ru) f (germánka)
• Scottish Gaelic: Gearmailteach m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Гѐрма̄н m, Гѐрма̄нка f

  Latin: Gèrmān (sh) m, Gèrmānka f

• Spanish: germano (es) m, germana (es) f
• Tamil: ஜெர்மானியர் c (jermāṉiyar)
• Turkish: Alman (tr)

1½-point type

• Dutch: achtste cicero
• German: Achtelcicero

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Alabama: ^{(please verify)} chaama
• Chuvash: ^{(please verify)} Нимӗҫ (Nimĕś)
• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} Duitser (nl) m, ^{(please verify)} Duitse (nl) f
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} Germano
• Estonian: ^{(please verify)} sakslane (et) (male or female), ^{(please verify)} sakslanna (female)
• French:

  Old French: ^{(please verify)} Aleman

• Guarani:

  Paraguayan Guarani: ^{(please verify)} Alemaniagua

• Hungarian: ^{(please verify)} német (hu)
• Ido: ^{(please verify)} Germano (io), ^{(please verify)} Germaniano (io)
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} orang Jerman
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} germano (ia) m, ^{(please verify)} germana f
• Khmer: ^{(please verify)} អាឡឺម៉ង់ (aaləɨmɑŋ)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} elman (ku), ^{(please verify)} elmanî (ku)

• Latin: ^{(please verify)} Germanus (la) m, ^{(please verify)} Germana (la) f, ^{(please verify)} theodiscus m
• Latvian: ^{(please verify)} vācietis (lv) m, ^{(please verify)} vāciete f, (rare) ^{(please verify)} vāci pl
• Macedonian: ^{(please verify)} Германец m (Germanec), ^{(please verify)} Германка f (Germanka), ^{(please verify)} Германци pl (Germanci)
• Malay: ^{(please verify)} orang Jerman, ^{(please verify)} Jerman (ms)
• Maltese: ^{(please verify)} Ġermaniż (mt) m, ^{(please verify)} Ġermaniża f, ^{(please verify)} Tedesk m, ^{(please verify)} Tedeska f
• Marathi: ^{(please verify)} जर्मन (jarman)
• Norman: ^{(please verify)} Allémand m, ^{(please verify)} Allémande f
• Pashto: ^{(please verify)} المانی m (almânay), ^{(please verify)} المانۍ f (almânëy)
• Persian: ^{(please verify)} آلمانی (fa) (âlmâni)
• Romani: ^{(please verify)} nyamco m, ^{(please verify)} nyamcojka f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ^{(please verify)} Немац m, ^{(please verify)} Нијемац, ^{(please verify)} Немица f, ^{(please verify)} Њемица f

  Latin: ^{(please verify)} Nemac m, ^{(please verify)} Nijemac (sh) m, ^{(please verify)} Nemica f, ^{(please verify)} Njemica f

• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} tysk (sv) c, ^{(please verify)} tyska (sv) c
• Tatar: ^{(please verify)} Алман (Alman)
• Thai: ^{(please verify)} คนเยอรมัน (th) (kon yer-rá-man)
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} Alman (tr), ^{(please verify)} Almanyalı
• Ukrainian: ^{(please verify)} ні́мець (uk) m (nímecʹ), ^{(please verify)} ні́мка f (nímka), ^{(please verify)} ні́мці pl (nímci)
• Volapük: ^{(please verify)} Deutänan (vo)
• Yakut: ^{(please verify)} Ниэмэс (Niemes)

Proper noun

German

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

   Synonyms: (rare) Deutsch, (archaic) Dutch

   Meronyms: Low German (Plattdeutsch), High German

   German has three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter.

   • 2021 April 25, John Malathronas, “Which languages are easiest – and most difficult – for native English speakers to learn?”, in CNN‎^[4], archived from the original on 22 March 2022:

     One of my German teachers used to joke that it takes you a year to say, “I’m traveling on the bus,” but once you’re on that bus, it’s plain sailing.

3. A surname.
4. A male given name from Russian.
5. A number of townships in the United States, listed under German Township.
6. A parish of the sheading of Glenfaba, Isle of Man.

Derived terms

Terms derived from German (proper noun)

• Alemannic German
• Austrian German
• Bernese German
• Central German
• Colonia Tovar German
• German chocolate
• Germish
• Germlish
• High German
• in the original German
• Low German
• Middle German
• Palatinate German
• Palatine German
• Pennsylvania German
• Pennsylvanian German
• Silesian German
• Standard German
• Swiss German, Swiss-German
• Upper German
• Upper Saxon German
• Volga German
• Volhynian German
• Volynian German
• Walliser German
• Walser German

Translations

the German language

• Abkhaz: агерман (agerman)
• Acehnese: ^{(please verify)} Jeureuman
• Afrikaans: Duits (af)
• Albanian: gjermanisht (sq), gjermanishte (sq) f, gjuha gjermane f
• Amharic: ጀርመን (ǧärmän)
• Arabic: الأَلْمَانِيَّة f (al-ʔalmāniyya), اللُّغَة الأَلْمَانِيَّة f (al-luḡa l-ʔalmāniyya), أَلْمَانِيّ m (ʔalmāniyy) (colloquial)
• Aragonese: alemán (an)
• Aramaic:

  Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܠܫܢܐ ܓܪܡܢܝܐ (lšnā grmniyā)

• Armenian: գերմաներեն (hy) (germaneren)
• Aromanian: limba ghirmãneascã f, limba ghirmanã f, limba ghermanã f
• Asturian: alemán (ast)
• Aymara: aliman aru
• Azerbaijani: alman dili (az)
• Bashkir: герман теле (girman tili)
• Basque: aleman (eu), alemanera (eu)
• Belarusian: няме́цкая мо́ва f (njamjéckaja móva), няме́цкая (be) f (njamjéckaja)
• Bengali: জার্মান ভাষা (bn) (jarman bhaśa)
• Bikol:

  Central Bikol: Alemán (bcl)

• Breton: alamaneg (br) m
• Bulgarian: не́мски (bg) m (némski), не́мски ези́к m (némski ezík)
• Burmese: ဂျာမန်စကား (gyamanca.ka:)
• Catalan: alemany (ca) m, alt alemany (ca) m
• Cebuano: inaleman
• Chechen: Немцойн мотт (Nemcojn mott), Лоьмсойн мотт (Lömsojn mott)
• Cherokee: ᎠᏛᏥ (chr) (advtsi)
• Chichewa: Chijeremani class 7
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 德語 / 德语 (dak¹ jyu⁵), 德文 (dak¹ man²)

  Dungan: дыййү (dɨyyü)

  Eastern Min: 德語 / 德语 (dáik-ngṳ̄)

  Hakka: 德語 / 德语 (tet-ngî), 德文 (tet-vùn)

  Hokkien: 德語 / 德语 (tek-gú / tiak-gír / tek-gí / tiak-gí), 德文 (tiak-bûn / tek-bûn)

  Mandarin: 德語 / 德语 (zh) (déyǔ), 德文 (zh) (déwén)

• Chuvash: нимӗҫ чӗлхи (nimĕś čĕlh̬i), нимӗҫле (nimĕśle)
• Circassian:

  East Circassian: ^{(please verify)} Джэрмэныбзэ (Džɛrmɛnəbzɛ)

• Cornish: Almaynek m
• Corsican: lingua tedesca f
• Crimean Tatar: alman tili
• Czech: němčina (cs) f
• Danish: tysk (da) n
• Dhivehi: އަލްމާނީ (almānī)
• Dutch: Duits (nl) n
• Emilian: tedèsch
• Esperanto: germana (eo)
• Estonian: saksa
• Faroese: týskt (fo) n
• Finnish: saksa (fi)
• Franco-Provençal: alemand
• French: allemand (fr) m
• Frisian:

  West Frisian: Dútsk (fy) n, Tsjutsk n (dated, literary)

• Friulian: todesc, lenghe todescje
• Galician: alemán (gl) m
• Georgian: გერმანული (ka) (germanuli), გერმანული ენა (ka) (germanuli ena)
• German: Deutsch (de) n, deutsche Sprache f

  Alemannic German: Deitscha, Tüütsch n, Düütsch n

  Bavarian: Deitsch n

  Central Franconian: Dütsch n

• Greek: γερμανικά (el) n pl (germaniká)
• Greenlandic: tyskisut
• Guarani:

  Paraguayan Guarani: ^{(please verify)} alemañañe'ẽ

• Gujarati: જર્મન (gu) (jarman)
• Haitian Creole: alman
• Hausa: Jamusanci
• Hebrew: גרמנית (he) f (germanít)
• Hindi: जर्मन (hi) (jarman), जरमन (hi) f (jarman)
• Hungarian: német (hu)
• Hunsrik: taytx
• Icelandic: þýska (is) f
• Ido: Germana (io), Germaniana (io)
• Ilocano: Aleman
• Indonesian: bahasa Jerman
• Interlingua: germano (ia)
• Irish: Gearmáinis f
• Italian: tedesco (it) m
• Japanese: ドイツ語 (ja) (ドイツご, Doitsu-go), 独語 (ja) (どくご, Dokugo)
• Javanese: Jerman basa
• Kannada: ಡಚ್ (kn) (ḍac)
• Kazakh: неміс тілі (nemis tili), немісше (nemisše)
• Khmer: អាល្លឺម៉ង់ (km) (ʼaalləɨmɑng)
• Kongo: kidoitce
• Korean: 독일어(獨逸語) (ko) (Dogireo), 독어(獨語) (ko) (Dogeo)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: elmanî (ku)

• Kyrgyz: неміс, немисче (ky) (nemisce)
• Ladino: lingua alemana f
• Lao: ພາສາເຢຍລະມັນ (lo) (phā sā yīa la man)
• Latin: lingua germanica f, lingua theodisca f
• Latvian: vācu valoda f, vācu
• Ligurian: lengua tedesca f
• Limburgish: Pruusj (li) n
• Lingala: lialémani
• Lithuanian: vokiečių (lt), vokiečių kalba (lt)
• Lombard: lengua Tudesca f
• Low German: Duitsk (nds) n

  Dutch Low Saxon: duuts

  German Low German: Düütsch (nds) n

• Luhya: please add this translation if you can
• Luxembourgish: Däitsch (lb) n
• Macedonian: германски m (germanski), германски јазик m (germanski jazik)
• Malagasy: alema (mg)
• Malay: bahasa Jerman, Jerman (ms)
• Malayalam: ജർമൻ ഭാഷ (jaṟmaṉ bhāṣa)
• Maltese: il-Ġermaniż (mt)
• Manipuri:

  Bishnupriya Manipuri: জার্মান (jārmān)

• Manx: Germaanish m
• Māori: reo Tiamana
• Mapudungun: alemaña dungun
• Marathi: भाषा जर्मन (bhāṣā jarman)
• Mazanderani: آلمانی زبون
• Mingrelian: გერმანული ნინა (germanuli nina)
• Mòcheno: taitsch n
• Moksha: германонь кяль (germanoń käľ)
• Mongolian: герман хэл (german xel)
• Nahuatl: teutontlahtōlli (nah)
• Navajo: Bééshbichʼahii bizaad
• Neapolitan: lengua germanese f
• Norman: allemaund
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tysk (no) m

  Nynorsk: tysk (nn) m

• Occitan: alemand (oc) m
• Ojibwe: aanimaamowin
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: нѣмьчьскъ ѩꙁꙑкъ m (němĭčĭskŭ językŭ)

• Ossetian: немыцаг ӕвзаг (nemycag ævzag)
• Pashto: الماني (ps)
• Persian: آلمانی (fa) (âlmâni)
• Piedmontese: lenga tedësca f
• Polish: niemiecki (pl) m inan, niemczyzna (pl) f
• Portuguese: alemão (pt) m
• Quechua: aliman simi
• Romagnol: tedèsch
• Romani: nyamcicko m
• Romanian: germană (ro) f, nemțește (ro) (adverb), nemțească f (rare), limba germană f
• Romansh: tudestg m (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran), tudas-ch m (Puter), tudais-ch m (Vallader), germanais m (Puter, Vallader)
• Russian: неме́цкий (ru) (neméckij), неме́цкий язы́к m (neméckij jazýk)
• Rwanda-Rundi: ikidage
• Sami:

  Kildin Sami: ерманскэ кӣлл (jermanske kīll)

  Northern Sami: duiskkagiella

  Skolt Sami: saksslaǩiõll

• Samoan: fa'asiamani
• Samogitian: vuokītiu kalba
• Scots: German
• Scottish Gaelic: Gearmailtis f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: немачки m, њемачки m

  Latin: nemački (sh) m, njemački (sh) m

• Sicilian: tudiscu (scn) m, lingua tudisca f
• Silesian: mjymjecko godka f
• Sinhalese: ජර්මානු (si) (jarmānu), භාෂාව ජර්මානු (bhāṣāwa jarmānu)
• Slovak: nemčina (sk) f
• Slovene: némščina (sl) f
• Somali: jarmalka, jarmalka
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: nimšćina f, nimska rěc f

  Upper Sorbian: němčina (hsb) f, němska rěč f

• Sotho: se-jeremane
• Spanish: alemán (es) m
• Sranan Tongo: Doisritongo
• Swahili: kijerumani (sw) class 7
• Swazi: síJalimáne
• Swedish: tyska (sv)
• Tagalog: Aleman (tl), Jerman
• Tajik: забони олмонӣ (zabon-i olmoni), олмонӣ (tg) (olmoni)
• Tamil: இடாய்ச்சு (iṭāyccu), ஜெர்மன் (jermaṉ), ஜெர்மன் மொழி (jermaṉ moḻi), செருமன் (cerumaṉ)
• Tatar: алман теле (alman tele)
• Telugu: జర్మను (jarmanu)
• Tetum: lia-alemaun, lian alemanya
• Thai: ภาษาเยอรมัน (th) (paasăa yerráman)
• Tibetan: འཇར་མན་སྐད། ('jar man skad)
• Tigrinya: ጀርመን (ǧärmän)
• Tok Pisin: Siamani tok
• Tumbuka: Cijeremani class 7
• Turkish: Almanca (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: نمچه (nemçe)

• Turkmen: nemes dili
• Ukrainian: німе́цька (uk) f (nimécʹka), німе́цька мо́ва (uk) f (nimécʹka móva)
• Urdu: جرمن (jarman), المانی (almānī)
• Uyghur: نېمىسچە (nëmische)
• Uzbek: nemischa (uz)
• Venetan: łéngoa todésca f, todesco (vec) m
• Vietnamese: tiếng Đức (vi)
• Volapük: Deutänapük (vo)
• Walloon: almand (wa)
• Welsh: Almaeneg (cy) f
• Xhosa: isiJamani
• Yiddish: דײַטש (yi) n (daytsh)
• Zazaki: almanki
• Zealandic: duuts
• Zulu: isiJalimani

Adjective

German (comparative more German, superlative most German or Germanest)

German football supporters.

1. Of or relating to the nation of Germany.
   • 2001, Donald L. Niewyk, The Jews in Weimar Germany, →ISBN, page 31:

     In Prussia, always the most progressive of the German states during the Weimar years and a stronghold of the two parties, Jews could be found in virtually all administrative departments […] .

   • 2020 May 15, “Burning EU and other flags can now bring German jail term”, in BBC‎^[5], archived from the original on 4 June 2025:

     The vote in the Bundestag (parliament) on Thursday makes defiling foreign flags equal to the crime of defiling the German flag.

2. Of or relating to the natives or inhabitants of Germany; to people of German descent; to their cultures.

   Hypernym: European

   Her German husband has blond hair.

   • 1889, Theodore S. Fay, The three Germanys: glimpses into their history, vol. II, p. 1270 (inside the index):

     Goths, a German tribe, 9; allied with other tribes against Rome, 39; [...]

   • 2005 May 23, Gavriel D. Rosenfeld, The World Hitler Never Made: Alternate History and the Memory of Nazism‎^[6], Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 182:

     If Demandt's essay served as a strident example of the German desire for normalcy, a more subtle example was provided by a brief allohistorical depiction of a Nazi victory in World War II written by German historian Michael Salewski in 1999.

3. Of, in or relating to the German language.

   Synonym: (rare) Deutsch

   Hypernym: Indo-European

   Meronyms: Low German, High German

   Because the instructions were German, Yves couldn't read them.

   • 1816, George Henry Noehden, A Grammar of the German Language, 3rd edition, page 3:

     In this manner there existed, about the time of the Reformation, three grand divisions of the German language, viz. the Upper German (Ober Deutsch), the Low German (Nieder Deutsch, or Platt Deutsch), and lastly the High German (Hoch Deutsch).

   • 1838, Joseph Bosworth, A Dictionary of the Anglo-saxon Language, page xiii:

     To trace its progress, it will be necessary to enter into detail, and to examine the German language in its two great divisions, the Low and High German.

   • 1990, Charles V.J. Russ, Introduction, in: Charles V.J. Russ (ed.), The Dialects of Modern German: A Linguistic Survey, p. xviii (note: the work covers Frisian, Low and High German dialects):

     This volume is intended to provide a survey of the linguistic characteristics of modern German dialects [...]. These are defined geographically as those within the borders of the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, Austria, the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, the German-speaking part of Switzerland, and Alsace in France ([..]).

Synonyms

• Teutonic

Derived terms

Terms derived from German (adjective)

• Afro-German
• anti-German
• Central German
• German Autumn
• German bearded iris
• German Bight
• German biscuit
• German bit
• German brass
• German carp
• German chamomile
• Germandom
• German dualism
• Germanesque
• German Flatts
• German flute
• German fried potatoes
• German goiter
• German grip
• Germanhood
• Germanification
• Germanify
• German iris
• Germanisation
• Germanise
• Germanish
• Germanism
• German ivy
• Germanization
• Germanize
• Germanland
• Germanlike
• German-like
• German lute
• Germanly
• German madwort
• German Namibian
• Germanness
• German New Guinea
• German Ocean
• Germanoid
• Germanophobe
• Germanophobic
• German pancake
• German paste
• German pizza
• German porcelain
• German rat
• German Reformed
• German Sea
• German sesame
• German shepherd
• German Shorthaired Pointer
• German Spitz Klein
• German Spitz Mittel
• German-style board game
• German-style game
• Germanton
• Germantown
• German turnip
• German Village
• German wheat
• German whist
• German Wirehaired Pointer
• Germoid
• Gotho-German
• High German
• Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation
• Low German
• Middle High German
• National Socialist German Workers' Party
• New High German
• non-German
• Old High German
• Pan-German
• Pennsylvania German
• Pennsylvanian German
• Swiss German, Swiss-German
• Upper German
• Zipser German

Translations

of or relating to the country of Germany

• Afrikaans: Duits (af)
• Albanian: gjerman (sq)
• Arabic: أَلْمَانِيّ (ʔalmāniyy)
• Armenian: գերմանական (hy) (germanakan)
• Asturian: alemán (ast)
• Azerbaijani: alman (az)
• Bashkir: немец (nemets), герман (girman)
• Basque: alemaniar (eu), aleman (eu)
• Belarusian: няме́цкі (njamjécki)
• Bengali: আলমানী (bn) (almanī)
• Breton: alaman (br)
• Bulgarian: герма́нски (bg) (germánski), не́мски (bg) (némski)
• Burmese: ဂျာမနီ (gyama.ni)
• Carpathian Rusyn: нїме́цькый (njimécʹkŷj)
• Catalan: alemany (ca)
• Chechen: немцойн (nemcojn)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 德國 / 德国 (zh) (Déguó), 德 (zh) (dé)

• Chuvash: нимӗҫ (nimĕś), герман (german)
• Corsican: tedescu (co)
• Czech: německý (cs)
• Danish: tysk (da)
• Dutch: Duits (nl), Duitse (nl)
• Esperanto: germana (eo)
• Estonian: saksa
• Finnish: saksalainen (fi)
• French: allemand (fr)
• Frisian:

  West Frisian: Dútsk (fy)

• Galician: alemán (gl)
• Georgian: გერმანული (ka) (germanuli), გერმანიის (germaniis)
• German: deutsch (de)

  Alemannic German: tüütsch, düütsch

  Central Franconian: dütsch

• Greek: γερμανικός (el) (germanikós)
• Guarani:

  Paraguayan Guarani: ^{(please verify)} Alemaniagua

• Hawaiian: Kelemānia
• Hebrew: גֶּרְמָנִי (he) (germaní)
• Hindi: जरमन (hi) (jarman)
• Hungarian: német (hu)
• Icelandic: þýskur (is)
• Indonesian: Jerman (id)
• Interlingua: german
• Irish: Gearmánach
• Italian: tedesco (it)
• Japanese: ドイツの (ja) (Doitsu no), 独 (ja) (どく, Doku)
• Kazakh: неміс (nemis)
• Khmer: អាល្លឺម៉ង់ (km) (ʼaalləɨmɑng)
• Korean: 독일의 (ko) (Dogir-ui), 도이췰란드의 (ko) (Doichwillandeu-ui) (North Korea)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: elmanî (ku)

• Kven: tyskäläinen
• Kyrgyz: немис (ky) (nemis), немец (nemets)
• Lao: ເຢັຽລະມັນ (yīa la man), ເຢຍຣະມັນ (yīa ra man)
• Latin: germanicus (la), theodiscus
• Latvian: vācu
• Lithuanian: vokiškas (lt)
• Low German:

  German Low German: düüdsch, dütsch (nds), düütsch (nds)

• Luxembourgish: däitsch
• Macedonian: германски (germanski)
• Malay: Jerman (ms)
• Māori: tiamana
• Mòcheno: taitsch
• Mongolian: герман (german)
• Navajo: Bééshbichʼahii bi-
• Neapolitan: germanése
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tysk (no)

  Nynorsk: tysk (nn)

• Occitan: alemand (oc)
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: нѣмьчьскъ (němĭčĭskŭ)

  Glagolitic: ⱀⱑⰿⱐⱍⱐⱄⰽⱏ (němĭčĭskŭ)

• Pashto: المانی (almânay), آلماني (ālmaní)
• Persian: آلمانی (fa) (âlmâni)
• Plautdietsch: dietsch (nds)
• Polish: niemiecki (pl)
• Portuguese: alemão (pt), germânico (pt)
• Romani: ^{(please verify)} nyamcicko
• Romanian: german (ro)
• Romansh: tudestg (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran), tudas-ch (Puter), tudais-ch (Vallader), germanais (Puter, Vallader)
• Russian: неме́цкий (ru) (neméckij), герма́нский (ru) (germánskij)
• Sami:

  Kildin Sami: ерманскэ (jermanske)

• Scottish Gaelic: Gearmailteach
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: нѐмачкӣ, њѐмачкӣ

  Latin: nèmačkī (sh), njèmačkī (sh)

• Slovak: nemecký (sk)
• Slovene: némški (sl)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: nimski

• Spanish: alemán (es)
• Swedish: tysk (sv)
• Tajik: олмонӣ (tg) (olmoni), германӣ (germani), немисӣ (nemisi)
• Tamil: ஜெர்மன் (ta) (jermaṉ), ஜெர்மானிய (jermāṉiya), இடாய்ச்சு (ta) (iṭāyccu)
• Tatar: алман (alman)
• Telugu: జర్మను (jarmanu)
• Thai: เยอรมัน (th) (yəə-rá-man)
• Turkish: Alman (tr)
• Turkmen: nemes
• Ukrainian: німе́цький (uk) (nimécʹkyj)
• Urdu: جرمن (jarman), المانی (almānī)
• Uyghur: نېمىس (nëmis)
• Uzbek: nemis (uz)
• Venetan: todésco
• Vietnamese: Đức (vi)
• Volapük: Deutänik (vo)
• Welsh: Almaenig, Almaenaidd
• Yakut: ниэмэс (niemes)
• Yiddish: דײַטשיש (daytshish)
• Zhuang: Dwzgoz

of or relating to the German people

• Afrikaans: Duits (af)
• Asturian: alemán (ast)
• Bengali: আলমানী (bn) (almanī)
• Catalan: alemany (ca)
• Chuvash: нимӗҫ (nimĕś)
• Corsican: tedescu (co) m, tedesca f
• Esperanto: germana (eo)
• Finnish: saksalainen (fi)
• Galician: alemán (gl)
• Georgian: გერმანული (ka) (germanuli)
• German: deutsch (de)

  Central Franconian: dütsch

• Greek: γερμανικός (el) (germanikós)
• Hawaiian: Kelemānia
• Icelandic: þýskur (is)
• Irish: Gearmánach
• Latvian: vācu
• Lithuanian: vokiškas (lt)
• Low German:

  German Low German: düütsch (nds)

• Malay: orang Jerman, Jerman (ms)
• Mòcheno: taitsch
• Mongolian: герман (german)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: germansk (no)

  Nynorsk: germansk

• Pashto: المانی (almânay)
• Plautdietsch: dietsch (nds)
• Portuguese: alemão (pt), germânico (pt)
• Romansh: tudestg (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran), tudas-ch (Puter), tudais-ch (Vallader), germanais (Puter, Vallader)
• Russian: неме́цкий (ru) (neméckij)
• Sami:

  Kildin Sami: ерманскэ (jermanske)

• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: nimski

• Spanish: alemán (es)
• Swedish: tysk (sv)
• Tamil: இடாய்ச்சு (ta) (iṭāyccu), ஜெர்மன் (ta) (jermaṉ), ஜெர்மானிய (jermāṉiya)
• Telugu: జర్మను (jarmanu)
• Volapük: Deutänanik (♂♀), hi-Deutänanik (♂), ji-Deutänanik (♀)
• Welsh: Almaenig, Almaenaidd
• Yiddish: דײַטש (yi) (daytsh)

of or relating to the German language

• Afrikaans: Duits (af)
• Arabic: أَلْمَانِيّ (ʔalmāniyy)
• Armenian: գերմաներեն (hy) (germaneren)
• Asturian: alemán (ast)
• Belarusian: няме́цкі (njamjécki)
• Bengali: আলমানী (bn) (almani)
• Breton: alamanek (br)
• Bulgarian: не́мски (bg) (némski)
• Catalan: alemany (ca)
• Chechen: немцойн (nemcojn)
• Chuvash: нимӗҫ (nimĕś)
• Corsican: tedescu (co)
• Czech: německý (cs)
• Finnish: saksankielinen (fi)
• Galician: alemán (gl)
• Georgian: გერმანული (ka) (germanuli)
• German: deutsch (de)
• Greek: γερμανικός (el) (germanikós)
• Hawaiian: Kelemānia
• Hungarian: német (hu)
• Icelandic: þýskur (is)
• Irish: Gearmáinise
• Latvian: vācu
• Lithuanian: vokiškas (lt)
• Low German:

  German Low German: düütsch (nds) (North Low German), düütsk (nds) (Westphalia, Münsterland, Westmünsterland), düüts (Westphalia, Westmünsterland), duitsk (East Westphalia, Sauerland)

• Macedonian: германски (germanski)
• Malay: bahasa Jerman, Jerman (ms)
• Mòcheno: taitsch
• Mongolian: герман (german)
• Pashto: المانی (almânay)
• Plautdietsch: dietsch (nds)
• Portuguese: alemão (pt)
• Romansh: tudestg (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran), tudas-ch (Puter), tudais-ch (Vallader), germanais (Puter, Vallader)
• Russian: неме́цкий (ru) (neméckij)
• Sami:

  Kildin Sami: ерманскэ (jermanske)

• Scottish Gaelic: Gearmailteach
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: нѐмачкӣ, њѐмачкӣ

  Latin: nèmačkī (sh), njèmačkī (sh)

• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: nimski

• Spanish: alemán (es)
• Swedish: tysk (sv), tyskspråkig (sv)
• Tamil: ஜெர்மன் (ta) (jermaṉ), இடாய்ச்சு (ta) (iṭāyccu), செருமன் (cerumaṉ)
• Telugu: జర్మను (jarmanu)
• Ukrainian: німе́цький (uk) (nimécʹkyj)
• Volapük: Deutänapükik
• Welsh: Almaeneg (cy)

See also

• St Germans
• Wiktionary’s coverage of German terms
• Appendix:German Swadesh list for a Swadesh list of basic vocabulary words in German

Further reading

• Leo's German - English Dictionary: from Department of Informatics of Technische Universität München
• ISO 639-1 code de, ISO 639-3 code deu (SIL)
• Ethnologue entry for German, deu ⁠

Anagrams

• Engram, Magner, Manger, engram, manger, ragmen

Basque

Etymology

• Borrowed from Germán

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡerman/ [ɡer.mãn]
• Rhymes: -erman, -an
• Hyphenation: Ger‧man

Proper noun

German anim

1. a male given name

References

• Xarles Bidegain (1999), Izendegia / Diccionario de nombres vascos / Dictionnaire de prénoms basques (overall work in Basque, Spanish, and French), Donostia / San Sebastián: Elkarlanean, →ISBN, page 190

German

Pronunciation

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Noun

German n (strong, genitive Germans, plural Germane)

1. (organic chemistry) germane

Declension

Declension of German [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	German	die	Germane
genitive	eines	des	Germans	der	Germane
dative	einem	dem	German	den	Germanen
accusative	ein	das	German	die	Germane

Norman

Proper noun

German m

1. a male given name

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡěrmaːn/
• Hyphenation: Ger‧man

Noun

Gèrmān m anim (Cyrillic spelling Гѐрма̄н)

1. German (member of a Germanic tribe)

Declension

Declension of German

	singular	plural
nominative	German	Germani
genitive	Germana	Germana
dative	Germanu	Germanima
accusative	Germana	Germane
vocative	Germane	Germani
locative	Germanu	Germanima
instrumental	Germanom	Germanima