german

comparative more german · superlative most german · alternative germane

1. obsolete except in set termsHaving the same mother and father; a full (brother or sister).

   brother-german

2. obsolete except in set termsBeing born to one’s blood aunt or uncle; a first (cousin).

   cousin-german

   1 more example

   The doubtfull wordes whereof they scan and canvas to an fro. Which done, Prometheus sonne began by counsell wise and sage

   1567 Arthur Golding trans., Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book 1, lines 460-2

3. obsoleteClosely related, akin.

   The phrase would bee more Germaine.

   c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]

   2 more examples

   After this Merlyn told vnto kynge Arthur of the prophecye / that there shold be a grete batail besyde Salysbury and Mordred his owne sone sholde be ageynste hym / Also he tolde hym that Basdemegus was his cosyn and germayn vnto kynge Vryence

   1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “xj”, in Le Morte Darthur, book II

   Wert thou a Leopard, thou wert Germane to the Lion.

   c. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]

plural germans

1. obsoleteA near relative.

   Which when his german saw, the stony feare / Ran to his hart, and all his sence dismayd […]

   1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

plural germans

1. An elaborate round dance, often with a waltz movement.

   Through the years, though, the german was replaced by new and more popular dances, but in many instances the name stayed on.

   1985, Betty Casey, Dance Across Texas, page 49

2. A social party at which the german is danced.

plural Germans · alternative abbreviation Germ.

1. countableA native or inhabitant of Germany.

   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.

   2023 February 1, Scottie Andrew, “The bizarre history of Groundhog Day”, in CNN, archived from the original on 18 Jul 2024

   Synonyms: Deutscher, Boche, Fritz, Hun, Jerry, Kraut

2. countablehistoricaluncountableA member of a Germanic tribe.

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

   Synonyms: Teuton

3. countableuncountableA German wine.

   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) […]

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

   1 more example

   […] 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.

   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

4. USdatedrareuncountablemediaA size of type between American and Saxon, 1+¹⁄₂-point type.
5. Multicultural London EnglishcountableslanguncountableA Germany-produced car, a “German whip”.

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

   2021 May 21, “Plugged In Freestyle”, Big Tobz in Big Tobz & Blittz (lyrics), Fumez The Engineer (music), 0:13–0:16

6. UKcountableslanguncountableA prison warder.

   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.

   1996, Angela Devlin, Prison Patter, Waterside Press, →ISBN

7. abbreviationcountableellipsisuncountableEllipsis of German cockroach.

alternative abbreviation Germ.

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

   Meronyms: Low German (Plattdeutsch), High German

   2 more examples

   German has three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter.

   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.

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

   Synonyms: Deutsch, Dutch

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

comparative more German · superlative most German · superlative Germanest · alternative abbreviation Germ.

1. Of or relating to the nation of Germany.

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

   2020 May 15, “Burning EU and other flags can now bring German jail term”, in BBC, archived from the original on 04 Jun 2025

   1 more example

   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 […].

   2001, Donald L. Niewyk, The Jews in Weimar Germany, →ISBN, page 31

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

   Her German husband has blond hair.

   2 more examples

   Goths, a German tribe, 9; allied with other tribes against Rome, 39; …

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

   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.

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

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

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

   3 more examples

   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).

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

   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.

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

   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 ([..]).

   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)

   Synonyms: Deutsch