Germanic

Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Financial, Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

Ger·man·ic

(jər-măn′ĭk)

adj.

a. Of, relating to, or characteristic of Germany or its people, language, or culture.

b. Of or relating to the Teutons.

2. Of or relating to the branch of the Indo-European language family that comprises North Germanic, West Germanic, and the extinct East Germanic.

3. Of or relating to a member of a Germanic-speaking people.

The Germanic branch of Indo-European.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Germanic

(dʒɜːˈmænɪk)

1. (Languages) a branch of the Indo-European family of languages that includes English, Dutch, German, the Scandinavian languages, and Gothic. Abbreviation: Gmc See East Germanic, West Germanic, North Germanic

2. (Languages) the unrecorded language from which all of these languages developed; Proto-Germanic

3. (Historical Terms) the unrecorded language from which all of these languages developed; Proto-Germanic

adj

4. (Languages) of, denoting, or relating to this group of languages

5. (Historical Terms) of, denoting, or relating to this group of languages

6. (Placename) of, relating to, or characteristic of Germany, the German language, or any people that speaks a Germanic language

7. (Languages) of, relating to, or characteristic of Germany, the German language, or any people that speaks a Germanic language

8. (Peoples) of, relating to, or characteristic of Germany, the German language, or any people that speaks a Germanic language

germanic

(dʒɜːˈmænɪk)

adj

(Elements & Compounds) of or containing germanium in the tetravalent state

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Ger•man•ic

(dʒərˈmæn ɪk)

n.

1. a family of languages, a branch of the Indo-European family, that includes English, Dutch, German, the Scandinavian languages, and Gothic. Abbr.: Gmc Compare East Germanic, North Germanic, West Germanic.

adj.

2. of or pertaining to Germanic or its speakers.

[1625–35; < Latin Germānicus. See German, -ic]

Ger•man′i•cal•ly, adv.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	Germanic - a branch of the Indo-European family of languages; members that are spoken currently fall into two major groups: Scandinavian and West Germanic Germanic language Indo-European language, Indo-Hittite, Indo-European - the family of languages that by 1000 BC were spoken throughout Europe and in parts of southwestern and southern Asia West Germanic, West Germanic language - a branch of the Germanic languages Proto-Norse - the Germanic language of Scandinavia up until about 700 Old Norse - the extinct Germanic language of medieval Scandinavia and Iceland from about to 700 to 1350 Nordic, North Germanic, North Germanic language, Scandinavian language, Scandinavian, Norse - the northern family of Germanic languages that are spoken in Scandinavia and Iceland East Germanic, East Germanic language - an extinct branch of the Germanic languages
Adj.	1.	Germanic - of or relating to the language of Germans; "the Germanic sound shifts"
	2.	Germanic - of or pertaining to the ancient Teutons or their languages; "Teutonic peoples such as Germans and Scandinavians and British"; "Germanic mythology" Teutonic

Translations

Germanisch

germain

germanskinjemački

germanico

Germaans

Germanic

[dʒɜːˈmænɪk] ADJ → germánico

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Germanic

[dʒɜː^rˈmænɪk] adj (= typically German) → allemand(e)

(= ancient German) → germaniqueGerman measles n → rubéole fGerman shepherd n → berger m allemandGerman speaker n → germanophone mfGerman-speaking [ˈdʒɜː^rmənspiːkɪŋ] adj → germanophone

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Germanic

adj

(= German in character) voice, accent → deutsch klingend; (= typically German) trait, style → (typisch) deutsch

(Hist, Ling) language, people, tribe, society → germanisch

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

Germanic

[dʒɜːˈmænɪk] adj → germanico/a

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

The first which presents itself is the Germanic body.

Out of this feudal system, which has itself many of the important features of a confederacy, has grown the federal system which constitutes the Germanic empire.

Peace was at length negotiated, and dictated by foreign powers; and the articles of it, to which foreign powers are parties, made a fundamental part of the Germanic constitution.

View in context

Meanwhile across the North Sea the three Germanic tribes which were destined to form the main element in the English race were multiplying and unconsciously preparing to swarm to their new home.

Perhaps he was the old Germanic god Beowa, and his exploits originally allegories, like some of those in the Greek mythology, of his services to man; he may, for instance, first have been the sun, driving away the mists and cold of winter and of the swamps, hostile forces personified in Grendel and his mother.

'Beowulf' presents an interesting though very incomplete picture of the life of the upper, warrior, caste among the northern Germanic tribes during their later period of barbarism on the Continent and in England, a life more highly developed than that of the Anglo-Saxons before their conquest of the island.

For the ultimate force in the universe of these fighters and their poets (in spite of certain Christian touches inserted by later poetic editors before the poem crystallized into its present form) is Wyrd, the Fate of the Germanic peoples, cold as their own winters and the bleak northern sea, irresistible, despotic, and unmoved by sympathy for man.

View in context

The Germanic Confederation pledged itself to 34,285 florins.

View in context

Little Teddy bore a charmed life, for nothing ever happened to him, and Jo never felt any anxiety when he was whisked up into a tree by one lad, galloped off on the back of another, or supplied with sour russets by his indulgent papa, who labored under the Germanic delusion that babies could digest anything, from pickled cabbage to buttons, nails, and their own small shoes.

View in context

And she remembered Billy's praise of her teeth, the night at Germanic Hall after he had told Charley Long he was standing on his foot.

View in context

Mademoiselle Noemie's jealous votary was a tall, robust young man with a thick nose, a prominent blue eye, a Germanic physiognomy, and a massive watch-chain.

View in context

For a time his Germanic discipline struggled with his English informality and his natural kindliness and talkativeness, and at last lost.