Germanism

American  

[jur-muh-niz-uhm] / ˈdʒɜr məˌnɪz əm /

noun

1. a usage, idiom, or other feature that is characteristic of the German language.

2. a custom, manner, mode of thought, action, etc., that is characteristic of the German people.

3. extreme partiality for or attachment to Germany, Germans, or German customs, manners, etc.

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Germanism British  

/ ˈdʒɜːməˌnɪzəm /

noun

1. a word or idiom borrowed from or modelled on German

2. a German custom, trait, practice, etc

3. attachment to or high regard for German customs, institutions, etc

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Other Word Forms

• anti-Germanism
  noun
• pro-Germanism
  noun

Etymology

Origin of Germanism

First recorded in 1605–15; German + -ism

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Germanism

The story is most memorable in the passages where Germanism is horribly mocked by events, as Plievier evokes those last, insane days when thoroughness turned into madness, tables of organization into the outlines of farce.

From Time Magazine Archive

Germanism, with its ideal of force, is contrasted with the ideal of Greek and Christian culture and philosophy.

From The Psychology of Nations A Contribution to the Philosophy of History by Partridge, G.E.

The result is that much of the Germanism of that age, sometimes far off from the great towns, still survives.

From Human, All-Too-Human, Part II by Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm

Chamberlain himself might not be quite assured of his Germanism.

From Gems (?) of German Thought by Archer, William

The Germanism of the regiment might altogether evaporate in the East, but could not possibly increase.

From The Uncollected Writings of Thomas de Quincey—Vol. 1 With a Preface and Annotations by James Hogg by Hogg, James