Germanic

How to spell germanic

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce germanic

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does germanic mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to the family of languages that includes English, German, Dutch, and the Scandinavian tongues, or to the ancient peoples from whom they descend.
2. nounThe branch of Indo-European languages from which English, German, Dutch, and the Scandinavian languages developed.

Germanic in a sentence

• adjective

  English belongs to the germanic branch of the wider Indo-European family.

• noun

  The lecturer explained how germanic split into northern and western groups over time.

• adjective

  The museum exhibit traced germanic tribes and their migrations across early Europe.

• noun

  Comparative linguists reconstruct earlier forms of germanic from its surviving descendants.

Where does germanic come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin Germanicus, an adjective formed from Germani, the name Roman writers used for the cluster of tribes living east of the Rhine and north of the Danube. The origin of Germani itself is genuinely uncertain, and scholars have argued for both Celtic and Latin sources; one old suggestion links it to a sense of 'neighbour' or 'kinsman', though none of this is settled. The Romans applied the label broadly, and Julius Caesar helped fix it in writing through his accounts of the wars in Gaul. English took the adjective in during the seventeenth century, first for things relating to the ancient peoples and later, in the work of linguists, for the whole branch of related languages that includes English, German, Dutch, and the Scandinavian tongues. A useful spelling note: it keeps the plain root 'German' intact and simply adds '-ic', so there is no hidden letter to forget.

How the word is built

• German- (from Latin Germani, the Roman name for the peoples east of the Rhine)
• -ic (adjective/noun suffix)