From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Below is a list of German expressions used in English. Some are relatively common (such as hamburger or gestalt), but most are comparitively rare. In many cases, the German borrowing in English has assumed a substantially different meaning than its German forebear.
Many of these are used to add atmosphere to a passage by implying that the thing being expressed is German, as in Frau or Reich, although sometimes the use of German terms has no German implication, as in doppelganger or angst.
Note that since English is a Germanic language, a large number of English words are of the same common proto-Germanic origin as in modern German (e.g. Hand or Finger). The list below only includes words and expressions that are of German but not of Anglic origin (see West Germanic language family tree).
German Terms Commonly Used in English
Words in this category will generally be recognized and used by an English speaker, usually without knowledge of the word's German origin. Some are quite common (such as kindergarten and deliatessen); others somewhat less so, though words in this list are not rare.German Terms Commonly Used In Academic Contexts In English
German terms frequently appear in several academic disciplines in English, notably in the history of World War II, psychology, philosophy, and physics. Non-specialists in a given field may or may not be familiar with a given German term.
- Anschluss
- Arbeit macht frei
- the Bauhaus style of architecture
- Blitzkrieg (and blitz)
- Eigenvector (German spelling: Eigenvektor)
- Führer (umlaut is usually dropped in English)
- Gestalt (common in psychology; much narrower meaning than in German.)
- Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei, Nazi-era secret state police.)
- Glockenspiel
- Kaiser
- Kristallnacht
- Lebensraum
- Luftwaffe
- Panzer
- Putsch
- Realpolitik
- Reich (Empire)
- SS (Schutzstaffel)
- U-Bahn (abbreviated form of Untergrundbahn)
- U-Boot (abbreviated form of Unterseeboot)
- Übermensch
German Terms Mostly Used for Literary Effect
These terms will be recognised by many if not most English speakers, but generally only appear in English when an author is evoking a Germanic setting.
German Terms Rarely Used in English
This is the unsorted, original list. If a term is common in a particular academic discipline, and there is no more commonly used English equivalent, then please move it to the list above.
- Abseil (German spelling: abseilen, a verb)
- Ansatz
- Autobahn
- Biedermeier
- Bierkeller
- Bildungsroman
- Bremsstrahlung
- Drang nach Osten
- Fahrvergnugen (German spelling: Fahrvergnügen, literally pleasure of driving. Caused widespread puzzlement in America when used in a Volkswagen advertising campaign.)
- Feinschmecker
- Fest
- Festschrift
- Freigeld
- Freiwirtschaft
- Führerprinzip
- Fürst
- Gedanken experiment (German spelling: Gedankenexperiment; more commonly referred to as a "thought experiment" in English.)
- Gemütlichkeit
- Gleichschaltung
- Hakenkreuz
- Hammerklavier
- Heimatvertriebene
- Heldentenor
- Hinterland
- Junker
- Kaffeeklatsch
- Kanone
- Kapellmeister
- Karabiner
- Katzenjammer
- Kinderfeindlichkeit
- Kobold
- Kraft durch Freude
- Kriegspiel
- Kulturkampf
- Künstlerroman
- Kursaal
- Landgrave
- Lebkuchen
- Leitmotif (German spelling: Leitmotiv)
- Lied (pronounced "leed")
- Lieder ohne Worte
- Luftmensch
- Lumpenproletariat
- Methodenstreit
- Minnesinger (German spelling: 'Minnesänger')
- Muesli (German spelling: 'Müsli')
- Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant-Colonel)
- Ostflucht
- Ostpolitik
- Privatdozent
- Putzfrau
- Rathskeller
- Reichstag (Imperial Diet; see Reichstag (building) and Reichstag (institution))
- Reinheitsgebot
- Rosenkavalier
- Rucksack (backpack)
- Sauerbraten
- Schadenfreude
- Schmutz
- Schnapps (German spelling: Schnaps)
- Schnitzel
- Schuss
- Sexualpolitik
- Sitz im Leben
- Spitz
- Sprechgesang
- Spritzer
- Sturm und Drang
- ... Über Alles (originally "Deutschland Über Alles"; now used by extension in other cases, as in the Dead Kennedys song "California Über Alles")
- Umlaut
- Ur- (as a prefix to mean "proto-")
- Urtext
- Verboten
- Völkerwanderung (pronounced folkervanderung)
- Volkswagen (proper name in English; pronounced folksvagon, people's car)
- Wahlverwandtschaft (pronounced with a v) (from Goethe's Die Wahlverwandschaften)
- Waldsterben
- Weltanschauung
- Weltpolitik
- Weltschmerz
- Zugzwang
- Zweihander (German spelling: Zweihänder)
- Zwieback
- Zwischenzug
