Austrian

How to spell austrian

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce austrian

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does austrian mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to Austria, its people, or its culture.
2. nounA person from or native to Austria.

Austrian in a sentence

• adjective

  The austrian ski resorts attract thousands of visitors each winter.

• noun

  As an austrian, he grew up speaking German in Salzburg.

• adjective

  She studied austrian history at the university in Vienna.

• noun

  Every austrian at the conference shared a love of classical music.

Where does austrian come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built on the country name Austria, which is itself a Latinised form of the German Österreich, literally 'the eastern realm', from the old Germanic root ostar meaning 'eastern' and reich meaning 'kingdom' or 'realm'. The name reflects the territory's historical position as a frontier march on the eastern edge of the medieval German lands. English added the productive suffix -an, from Latin -anus, which marks belonging or origin, to form the demonym and adjective. The word entered English by the 1500s as contact with the Habsburg lands grew. A useful spelling note is that the Latin form Austria has nothing to do with the word 'austral' or 'south'; the resemblance is coincidental, since the name actually means 'eastern', and the -ian ending keeps the i visible even though it is barely heard.

How the word is built

• Austria (the country)
• -an (adjective/noun suffix meaning 'belonging to')