Low German

American  

noun

1. the West Germanic languages not included in the High German group, as English, Dutch, Flemish, or Plattdeutsch. LG, L.G.

2. Plattdeutsch.

---

Low German British  

noun

1. Also called: Plattdeutsch.   LG.  a language of N Germany, spoken esp in rural areas: more closely related to Dutch than to standard High German See also German High German

---

Etymology

Origin of Low German

First recorded in 1835–45

Compare meaning

How does low-german compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• High German vs. Low German

Example Sentences

Mr Holbrooks remembers when the Low German Mennonite group began immigrating to his hometown and nearby states in the 1970s.

From BBC • Apr. 12, 2025

Still speaking Plautdietsch - a blend of Low German, Prussian dialects and Dutch - a few thousand moved to the forests of Campeche in the 1980s.

From Reuters • Jul. 12, 2022

Mom has prepared a small lunch — faspa, as is said in Low German.

From Salon • Dec. 5, 2021

Their first language is Plautdietsch, or Low German, an archaic unwritten dialect that dates back to sixteenth-century Polish Prussia, where many of their ancestors settled after persecution drove them from home.

From The New Yorker • Mar. 18, 2019

This process commenced in the north where it seems to have been already fully developed in Low German as early as the 8th century.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 7 "Geoponici" to "Germany" by Various