Etymology

Germanist

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Today it means: A person who studies the Germanic languages, the associated literatures and/or cultures. Full definition →

First used late 19th c.German Germanist
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The story

  1. German · borrowed fromGermanist
  2. English todayGermanist

Borrowed from German Germanist, along the model of earlier English Romanist (“scholar of Romance languages”). By surface analysis, German + -ist, doublet of Germanicist.

First known use, by meaning

  • from late 19th c. A person who studies the Germanic languages, the associated literatures and/or cultures.
  • from late 19th c. A person who specializes in the German language, literature and/or culture of the German-speaking world.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.