Wanderjahr
Americannoun
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a year or period of travel, especially following one's schooling and before practicing a profession.
-
(formerly) a year in which an apprentice traveled and improved his skills before settling down to the practice of his trade.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of Wanderjahr
First recorded in 1890–95; German: literally, “wander year”; see origin at wander ( def. ), year ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
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
During his involuntary Wanderjahr Wissenback crossed frontiers half a dozen times, rode next to German officers in trains.
From Time Magazine Archive
Tempo Justin Gane From the makers of Wanderjahr and the Pulse series, comes Tempo.
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
Many early pages chronicle the poet’s youthful Wanderjahre in Europe, but almost nothing is said about his 25 years as a Harvard professor of European languages and literatures.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 2, 2020
In Germany, the still extant Wanderjahre tradition sees young people wander the country for a fixed period, dressed in stovepipe hats and bell-bottoms, singing for their sausage suppers in inns and bars.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 9, 2017
The circus held him for only half a year; then his Wanderjahre began for fair.
From Time Magazine Archive
Many students will therefore treat themselves to Wanderjahre, living frugaily on handouts from home or picking up odd jobs.
From Time Magazine Archive
Stock am Eisen" in Vienna, "The sacred tree into which every apprentice, down to recent times, before setting out on his "Wanderjahre", drove a nail for luck.
From The Folk-lore of Plants by Dyer, T. F. Thiselton (Thomas Firminger Thiselton)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
