Word origins

• black marketTrade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing, or price controls.
• blashA heavy fall of rain.
• blastogenyBlastogenesis.
• blastophylyThe direct study of the evolution of the forms of entire individuals rather than observation of its supposed ontogenic recapitulation.
• Blau gasAn artificial illuminating gas similar to propane, manufactured by decomposing mineral oils in retorts by heat and compressing the resulting naphtha into liquid.
• BlauschildA surname from German.
• BlauseeA small mountain lake near Mitholz in the Bernese Oberland, Switzerland, well-known for its clear blue water.
• BlehmA surname from German.
• bleicherdeA kind of grey loamy sand.
• BlessingerA surname from German.
• BlickenstaffA surname from German.
• blitz chessChess played at a quick time control, with each side getting about five minutes to make their moves. Blitz chess is played at a variety of time controls, primarily 3+0 (three minutes per side), 3+2 (three minutes per side plus two extra seconds per move), 5+0, and 5+3.
• blitz torteA cake with five layers: two layers of sponge, two layers of meringue, and cream filling, which can be made with the same effort as a two-layer cake.
• block fluteA flute stop on an organ of 4' or 2' that is imitative of a recorder.
• bloc partyA nonruling political party that exists in a largely symbolic capacity within a de facto one-party system, particularly in communist regimes.
• blood and soilA nationalist, often fascist, ideology that sees genetic heritage (blood) and geographic territory (soil) as the most important values of a nation, typically associated with the idealisation of racial “purity”, reproductive fertility, agriculture and belligerence; examples include Nazism (cf. the concept of Lebensraum) and white nationalism in the United States.
• blood wurstblood sausage
• BludenzA town in the state of Vorarlberg, Austria, located on the river Ill at the meeting point of five valleys: Walgau, Montafon, Brandnertal, Klostertal and Großes Walsertal, and is surrounded by the Bregenz Forest Mountains in the north, the Rätikon in the southwest and the Silvretta in the southeast; it is best known for its nearby ski areas and producing Milka chocolate; the town is the administrative centre of its eponymous district.
• BluemelA surname from German.
• BlumenbergA surname from German.
• BlumenkopfA surname from German.
• blumsaka children's game equivalent to duck, duck, goose
• blutwurstA blood sausage, blood pudding
• bock beerA strong, dark lager of German origin.
• bockwurstA large frankfurter (type of German sausage).
• BoedingA surname from German.
• BoegerA surname from German.
• BoehleA surname from German.
• BoehnkeA surname from German.
• BoehnleinA surname from German.
• BoelkeA surname from German.
• Bohemian ForestA mountain range in the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany.
• BohlanderA surname from German.
• BohnenkampA surname from German.
• BoldmanA surname from German.
• BollenbacherA surname from German.
• BollenhutA formal headdress with woollen pompoms, worn since about 1750 by Protestant women as part of their folk costume in the three neighbouring Black Forest villages of Gutach, Kirnbach and Hornberg-Reichenbach.
• Book of the DeadAn ancient Egyptian funerary text of the New Kingdom consisting of spells to assist the journey of the dead into the afterlife, developed from the earlier Coffin Texts.
• BoomhowerA surname.
• BosslerA surname from German.
• bott hammerA hammer used to process flax.
• botulinAn extremely potent nerve toxin produced by the anaerobic bacteria Clostridium botulinum. Ingesting botulin results in the serious medical condition of botulism.
• bougherA young hawk, when it begins to leave the nest.
• BrachleA surname from German.
• Brandenburg an der HavelA town in Brandenburg, Germany.
• brandleTo shake; to (cause to) totter.
• BratschA surname from German.
• bratt panA large receptacle for cooking large-scale meals.
• Braunau am InnA town and district of Upper Innviertel, northwestern Upper Austria, Austria.
• BraunschildA surname from German.
• bread-artistAn artist or writer who produces inferior work solely in order to earn a living.
• BrecheisenA surname from German.
• BrechtelA surname from German.
• BreisachA town in western Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
• Breisgau-HochschwarzwaldA distict in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
• BreitkreutzA surname from German.
• breitschwanzBroadtail.
• BrendlingerA surname from German.
• brennschlussThe moment in the path of a rocket when the fuel burns out, after which it continues its ballistic trajectory under only the forces of gravity and air resistance (if present).
• BrethauerA surname from German.
• BridenstineA surname from German.
• Broad PeakA mountain of the Gasherbrum, Karakoram; on the Pakistan-China border between Baltistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Xinjiang. The 12th highest mountain in the world, an eight-thousander.
• BrociousA surname from German.
• brompicrinA pungent colourless liquid, CNO₂Br₃, with explosive properties.
• broolA deep murmur.
• brötchenbun, bread roll
• brotformA type of basket used to provide structure for breads during proofing.
• brownshirtA uniformed member of the German Nazi Party (NSDAP), especially a storm trooper of the Sturmabteilung.
• BroxtermanA surname from German.
• brucksA surname from German.
• BrueckA surname from German.
• BruggemannA surname from German.
• BrummondA surname from German.
• BrunhildA shieldmaiden and valkyrie in Germanic mythology, a main character in the Nibelungenlied, Vǫlsunga saga, and some poems of the Poetic Edda.
• BrunkenA surname from German.
• BrunkerA surname from German.
• BuchingerA surname from German.
• buchtelnSweet rolls made of enriched yeast dough, filled with powidl, jam, chocolate, ground poppy seeds or quark, brushed with butter and baked in a large pan so that they stick together and can be pulled apart.
• BuegeA surname from German.
• BueningA surname from German.
• BumbargerA surname from German.
• BundesadlerThe eagle when used as a symbol of Germany.
• BundeskriminalamtThe German federal office of criminal investigations.
• BuntsandsteinA lithostratigraphic and allostratigraphic unit in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe, predominantly consisting of sandstone layers of the Lower Triassic.
• BurbackA surname from German.
• bürgermeisterSynonym of burgomaster.
• burggrafA surname from German.
• burgraveThe military governor of a town or castle in the Middle Ages, especially in German-speaking Europe; a nobleman of the same status.
• BurkelA surname from German.
• BurkhammerA surname from German.
• BurklowA surname from German.
• BushardA surname from German.
• BuslerA surname from German.
• butterbrotA German open sandwich.
• ButtgereitA surname from German.
• ButtkeA surname from German.
• ButzerA surname from German.
• cabanossiA kind of spicy smoked Australian sausage.
• cabbelingThe process by which two masses of water with different temperatures and salinities mix to form a new water mass with a density higher than the density of either parent water mass; also, the sinking of the new water mass as the effect of its increased density.
• cabinet of curiositiesSynonym of Wunderkammer.