germanic

¹ American  

[jer-man-ik, -mey-nik] / dʒərˈmæn ɪk, -ˈmeɪ nɪk /

adjective

Chemistry.

1. of or containing germanium, especially in the tetravalent state.

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Germanic ² American  

[jer-man-ik] / dʒərˈmæn ɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to the Teutons or their languages.

2. German.

3. of, relating to, or noting the Germanic branch of languages.

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noun

1. a branch of the Indo-European family of languages including German, Dutch, English, the Scandinavian languages, Afrikaans, Flemish, Frisian, and the extinct Gothic language. Gmc, Gmc.

2. Proto-Germanic.

3. an ancient Indo-European language, the immediate linguistic ancestor of the Germanic languages. Gmc, Gmc.

Germanic ¹ British  

/ dʒɜːˈmænɪk /

noun

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

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

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adjective

1. of, denoting, or relating to this group of languages

2. of, relating to, or characteristic of Germany, the German language, or any people that speaks a Germanic language

germanic ² British  

/ dʒɜːˈmænɪk /

adjective

1. of or containing germanium in the tetravalent state

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Other Word Forms

• Germanically adverb
• anti-Germanic adjective
• non-Germanic adjective
• pre-Germanic adjective
• pro-Germanic adjective
• pseudo-Germanic adjective
• trans-Germanic adjective

Etymology

Origin of germanic¹

First recorded in 1885–90; german(ium) + -ic

Origin of Germanic²

First recorded in 1625–35; from Latin Germānicus “pertaining to Germany or the Germans”; German, -ic

Example Sentences

Under pressure from neighbors, Germanic and Sarmatian tribes began crossing the Danube, one of Rome’s borders, in the 160s and continuing at intervals throughout the 170s.

From The Wall Street Journal

Chemers and other scholars say the emergence of the Grinch as a foil to Santa is less a departure than a return to form: the Grinch is a “PG version” of the mythical Krampus, a shaggy, fork-tongued Germanic goat man who beats and even abducts naughty children, working as an enforcer for Father Christmas.

From Los Angeles Times

In the humanities division, the cutbacks mean the school is pausing Ph.D. admissions for a year in disciplines like comparative literature, Germanic studies and art history.

From The Wall Street Journal

The question of where to donate the art came next, and Jane said there weren’t many places that came into play when she was looking for institutions with a long-standing commitment to Germanic modernism.

From Los Angeles Times

"It's a remarkable mixture - a vessel from the southern, classical world containing the remains of a very northern, very Germanic cremation," she said.

From BBC