Scharnhorst

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/ˈʃɑː(ɹ)nhɔː(ɹ)st/

proper noun

Several locations in northern Germany.

OriginGerman Scharnhorst ← Low German Scharnhorst ← Middle Low German Scharnhorst →
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Meanings

proper nounScharnhorst (countable and uncountable, plural Scharnhorsts)

plural Scharnhorsts

  1. countableuncountableSeveral locations in northern Germany.
  2. countableuncountableA habitational surname from German, borne by a famous 19th-century Prussian general and military theoreticist.
  3. countableuncountableSeveral German ships named after the general, including a Kriegsmarine capital ship which participated in WWII.

Origin

  1. Proto-Germanic*skarną
  2. Old Saxon*skarn
  3. Middle Low GermanScharnhorst
  4. Low GermanScharnhorst
  5. GermanScharnhorst
  6. EnglishScharnhorst

From German Scharnhorst, from Low German Scharnhorst, from Middle Low German Scharnhorst, from scharn (“dirty, damp”) + horst (“wooded hill”), from Old Saxon *skarn + hurst, from Proto-Germanic *skarną + *hursti.

More words from German, Low German, Middle Low German

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Scharnhorst. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Scharnhorst

MLA

“Scharnhorst.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Scharnhorst. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Scharnhorst,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Scharnhorst.

Source: Scharnhorst on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.