german
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
A language mainly spoken in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
jurmuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈdʒɝmən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
uncountable
An Indo-European (Indo-Germanic) language, primarily spoken in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, South Tyrol, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and a small part of Belgium.
A member of the Germanic ethnic group which is the most populous ethnic group in Germany; a person of German descent.
The standard German language; developed historically from West Germanic
A number of townships in the United States, listed under German Township.
An elaborate round dance, often with a waltz movement.
countable
A native or inhabitant of Germany; a person of German citizenship or nationality.
adjective
Of or relating to the natives or inhabitants of Germany; to people of German descent; to their cultures.
Of or relating to the nation of Germany.
Of, in or relating to the German language.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An Indo-European (Indo-Germanic) language, primarily spoken in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, South Tyrol, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and a small part of Belgium.
Used this way, german is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It stays understated rather than dramatic. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Mild
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use german
- “I enjoy listening to German music on the radio sometimes.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A republic in central Europe.
Related to An Indo-European (Indo-Germanic) language, primarily spoken in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, South Tyrol, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and a small part of Belgium.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Annual Eurasian herb similar in fragrance and medicinal uses to chamomile though taste is more bitter and effect is considered inferior.
Small light-brown cockroach brought to United States from Europe.
A republic in north central Europe on the Baltic.
Iris of northern Italy having deep blue-purple flowers.
South African succulent evergreen twining climber with yellow flowers grown primarily as a houseplant for its foliage.
The standard German language.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A republic in north central Europe on the North Sea.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
noun
Sense: indo-European (Indo-Germanic) language or primarily spoken in Germany
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.