Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

german

UK /ˈd͡ʒɜː.mən/ · US /ˈd͡ʒɝ.mən/ adjective, noun, proper noun

Forms germans Germanest germane Germ.

  1. adjective (obsolete except in set terms) Having the same mother and father; a full (brother or sister). “brother-german”
  2. adjective (obsolete except in set terms) Being born to one’s blood aunt or uncle; a first (cousin). “cousin-german”
  3. adjective (obsolete) Closely related, akin.
  4. noun (obsolete) A near relative.
  5. noun An elaborate round dance, often with a waltz movement.
  6. noun A social party at which the german is danced.
  7. noun (countable) A native or inhabitant of Germany; a person of German citizenship or nationality.
  8. noun (historical) A member of a Germanic tribe. “Rome was sacked by Germans and the Western Roman Empire collapsed.”
  9. noun A German wine.
  10. noun (uncountable, US printing, rare, dated) A size of type between American and Saxon, 1+¹⁄₂-point type.
  11. noun (MLE, slang) A Germany-produced car, a “German whip”.
  12. noun (UK, slang) A prison warder.
  13. proper noun (uncountable) An Indo-European (Indo-Germanic) language, primarily spoken in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, South Tyrol, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and a small part of Belgium. “German has three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter.”
  14. proper noun A surname.
  15. proper noun A male given name from Russian.
  16. proper noun A number of townships in the United States, listed under German Township.
  17. proper noun A parish of the sheading of Glenfaba, Isle of Man.
  18. adjective Of or relating to the nation of Germany.
  19. adjective Of or relating to the natives or inhabitants of Germany; to people of German descent; to their cultures. “Her German husband has blond hair.”
  20. adjective Of, in or relating to the German language. “Because the instructions were German, Yves couldn't read them.”

Synonyms

Deutscher Boche Fritz Hun Jerry Kraut Teuton Deutsch Dutch Teutonic Germanic High German German language

Etymology

From Old French germain, from Latin germānus, from germen (“seed, sprout, bud”). See also germane, a formal variant which has survived in specific senses. Not related to the proper noun German.

From German (“of Germany”).

From Latin Germānus, Germānī (“the peoples of Germānia”), as distinct from Gauls (in the writings of Caesar and Tacitus), and of uncertain ultimate origin (possibly Celtic/Gaulish).
Not related to german (“closely related”) or germane (from the Latin adjective germānus, through Old French).
Attested since at least 1520. Replaced the older terms Almain and Dutch (from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz) in English. Besides cognates of German, Almain, and Dutch, two other categories of words for the Germans in other languages are cognates of Saxon and descendants of Proto-Slavic *němьcь; see those entries for more.
The surname is generally from the noun, though sometimes confused with Herman, Hermann under Russian influence. As a German surname, Americanized from Germann. Compare Germán, Germain, Jerman.

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Nearly related; closely akin.
  2. noun A native or one of the people of Germany.
  3. noun The German language.
  4. adjective Of or pertaining to Germany. German Baptists. See Dunker.

Etymology [OE. german, germain, F. germain, fr. L. germanus full, own (said of brothers and sisters who have the same parents); akin to germen germ. Cf. Germ, Germane.]

Etymology [L. Germanus, prob. of Celtis origin.]

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “german”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details