German

noun

1. 1

   A native or inhabitant of Germany; a person of German citizenship or nationality.

   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.

2. 2

   historicalA member of a Germanic tribe.

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

3. 3

   A German wine.

   […] 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.

   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) […]

4. 4

   datedA size of type between American and Saxon, 1+¹⁄₂-point type.

5. 5

   slangA Germany-produced car, a “German whip”.

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

6. 6

   slangA 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.

7. 7

   Variant of German cockroachEllipsis of German cockroach.

proper noun

1. 1

   An 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

   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.

2. 2

   A surname.

3. 3

   A male given name from Russian.

4. 4

   A number of townships in the United States, listed under German Township.

5. 5

   A parish of the sheading of Glenfaba, Isle of Man.

adjective

1. 1

   Of or relating to the nation of Germany.

   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 […].

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

2. 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.

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

   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.

3. 3

   Of, in or relating to the German language.

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

   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).

   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.

   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 ([..]).

Forms

plural

Germans

comparative

more German

superlative

most German, Germanest