Wanderjahr
Americannoun
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Wanderjahre
plural
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a year or period of travel, especially following one's schooling and before practicing a profession.
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(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
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
During his involuntary Wanderjahr Wissenback crossed frontiers half a dozen times, rode next to German officers in trains.
From Time Magazine Archive
On a Wanderjahr around the world in 1908, Bayard stopped off at the American University of Beirut, in the Lebanon.
From Time Magazine Archive
And yet—the lady in this case was to all appearances soundly and securely asleep; the mouse, on the other hand, seemed to be trying to crowd a Wanderjahr into a few strenuous minutes.
From Reginald in Russia and other sketches by Saki
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
Many students will therefore treat themselves to Wanderjahre, living frugaily on handouts from home or picking up odd jobs.
From Time Magazine Archive
The circus held him for only half a year; then his Wanderjahre began for fair.
From Time Magazine Archive
His Wanderjahre would presently be upon him again.
From The Tower of Oblivion by Oliver [pseud.] Onions
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.
