Wanderjahr

American  

[vahn-duhr-yahr] / ˈvɑn dərˌyɑr /

noun

German.

plural

Wanderjahre

1. a year or period of travel, especially following one's schooling and before practicing a profession.

2. (formerly) a year in which an apprentice traveled and improved his skills before settling down to the practice of his trade.

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Wanderjahr British  

/ ˈvandərjaːr /

noun

1. (formerly) a year in which an apprentice travelled to improve his skills

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Etymology

Origin of Wanderjahr

First recorded in 1890–95; German: literally, “wander year”; see origin at wander ( def. ), year ( def. )

Example Sentences

On a Wanderjahr around the world in 1908, Bayard stopped off at the American University of Beirut, in the Lebanon.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Storyteller grew famous by turning the travels of a tweedy, 2-in.-tall mouse into a memorable Wanderjahr for children, loaded with longing and nostalgia.

From Time Magazine Archive

Before this Wanderjahr, Dadd's early reputation had been based on painting fairies, elves, goblins and other more or less demure inhabitants of the Victorian psychic zoo.

From Time Magazine Archive

Potter Rosenthal admires the U. S. The Wanderjahr to which every well-to-do German youth feels entitled, Potter Rosenthal spent on the western plains in 1874 as "ein wirklicher Cowboy."

From Time Magazine Archive

But it is no new idea in the world that a young man should have his Wanderjahr before he finds what he wants, or even finds acquiescence.

From The Magnetic North by Robins, Elizabeth