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gesundheit

[ guh-zoont-hahyt ]
/ gəˈzʊnt haɪt /
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See synonyms for gesundheit on Thesaurus.com
interjection
(used to wish good health, especially to a person who has just sneezed.)
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Origin of gesundheit

1905–10, Americanism;<German: literally, health, equivalent to gesund healthy (Old High German gisunt;see sound2) + -heit-hood

Words nearby gesundheit

gesticular, gesticulate, gesticulation, gesture, Gesualdo, gesundheit, get, geta, get a bang out of, get about, get a break
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Words related to gesundheit

sternutation, dear me, gee whiz, golly, good gracious, goodness gracious, gosh, phew, well

How to use gesundheit in a sentence

  • At the same interview, when the doctor sneezed, she said "Gesundheit."

    Benign Stupors|August Hoch

  • I involuntarily cried "Prosit und Gesundheit" as we whizzed through them.

    A Summer's Outing|Carter H. Harrison

British Dictionary definitions for gesundheit

gesundheit
/ German (ɡəˈzʊnthait) /
sentence substitute
an expression used to wish good health to someone who has just sneezed

Word Origin for gesundheit

from gesund healthy + -heit -hood; see sound ²
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for gesundheit

Gesundheit
[ (guh-zoont-heyt) ]

German for “good health.” Like the English phrase “Bless you,” it is conventionally said to someone who has just sneezed. This reflects the superstition that a sneeze can cause the soul to fly out of the body; saying the phrase prevents this from happening.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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