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The English language has incorporated variousloanwords, terms, phrases, or quotations from the German language. A loanword is a word borrowed from a donor language and incorporated into a recipient language without translation. It is distinguished from a calque, or loan translation, where a meaning or idiom from another language is translated into existing words or roots of the host language. Some of the expressions are relatively common (e.g.,hamburger), but most are comparatively rare. In many cases, the loanword has assumed a meaning substantially different from its German forebear.
English and German both areWest Germanic languages, though their relationship has been obscured by thelexical influence ofOld Norse andNorman French (as a consequence of theNorman conquest of England in 1066) on English as well as theHigh German consonant shift. In recent years, however, many English words have been borrowed directly from German. Typically, English spellings of German loanwords suppress anyumlauts (the superscript, double-dotdiacritic inÄ,Ö,Ü,ä,ö, andü) of the original word or replace the umlaut letters withAe,Oe,Ue,ae,oe,ue, respectively (as is done commonly in German speaking countries when the umlaut is not available; the origin of the umlaut was a superscript E).
German words have been incorporated into English usage for many reasons:
German cultural artifacts, especially foods, have spread to English-speaking nations and often are identified either by their original German names or by German-sounding English names.
Developments and discoveries in German-speaking nations in science,scholarship, and classical music have led to German words for new concepts, which have been adopted into English: for example the wordsdoppelgänger andangst in psychology.
Discussion of German history and culture requires some German words.
Some German words are used in English narrative to identify that the subject expressed is in German, e.g.,Frau,Reich.
As languages, English and German descend from the common ancestor language West Germanic and further back toProto-Germanic; because of this, some English words are essentially identical to their German lexical counterparts, either in spelling (Hand,Sand,Finger) or pronunciation ("fish" =Fisch, "mouse" =Maus), or both (Arm,Ring); these are excluded from this list.
German common nouns fully adopted into English are in general not initially capitalized, and the German letter "ß" is generally changed to "ss".
Most of these words will be recognized by many English speakers; they are commonly used in English contexts. Some, such aswurst andpumpernickel, retain German connotations, while others, such aslager andhamburger, retain none. Not every word is recognizable outside its relevant context. A number of these expressions are used in American English, under the influence of German immigration, but not in British English.
Kaiser roll—a round bread roll, originally from Austria.
Kellerbier—a lager beer, which is typically neither clarified nor pasteurised.
Kinder Surprise (also known as a "Kinder Egg")—a chocolate egg containing a small toy, usually requiring assembly (in Germany:Überraschungsei andKinder-Überraschung). However, despite being a German word, theKinder chocolate brand is actually of Italian origin.
Kipfel (also kipferl)—a horn-shaped type of pastry.
Kirschwasser—a spirit drink made from cherries (hard liquor / booze).
Märzen (also Märzenbier)—a medium to full body lager beer.
Maß—a unit of volume used for measuring beer; typically 1 litre (0.22 imp gal; 0.26 US gal), but probably evolved from the old Bavarian unit of measure (Maßeinheit) calledQuartl (quart).
Pilsener (also Pils or Pilsner)—a pale lager beer named after Pilsen, the German name ofPlzeň, a city in WesternBohemia; contains higher amounts of hops than usual Lager (orExport) beer, and therefore is a tad more bitter.
Spritzer (fromspritzen meaning "to spray"; the term is most commonly used in Vienna and its surroundings; in German:(Wein-)Schorle, rarelyGespritzter)—a chilled drink from white wine and soda water.
Stein (fromSteingut meaning "earthenware", referring to the material; in German:Steinkrug, literally earthenware jug)—a large drinking mug, usually for beer.
Abseil (German spelling:sich abseilen, a reflexive verb, to rope (Seil) oneself (sich) down (ab))—the term "abseiling" is used in the UK and Commonwealth countries, "roping (down)" in various English settings, and "rappelling" in the US.
Blitz (fromBlitzkrieg, literally 'lightning war'), a team defensive play in American or Canadian football in which the defense sends more players than the offense can block. The termBlitzkrieg was originally used in Nazi Germany during World War II, describing a dedicated kind of fast and ferocious attack.
Foosball, probably from the German word forfootball,Fußball, although foosball itself is referred to asKicker orTischfußball in German.Fußball is the word for soccer in general.
Karabiner (fromKarabinerhaken; can also mean aCarbine firearm in German), snaplink, a metal loop with a sprung or screwed gate, used in climbing and mountaineering; translates to "riflehook".
Kutte (literally 'frock' or 'cowl, monk's habit'), a type of (cut-off) vest made out of denim or leather and traditionally worn bybikers,metalheads, andpunks
Lebensraum, literally "living space"; conquered territory, now exclusively associated with theNazi Party inthat historical context. In Germany, the word usually simply means 'habitat'
Nazi, short forNationalsozialist (National Socialist)
Neanderthal (modern German spelling:Neandertal), for GermanNeandertaler, meaning "of, from, or pertaining to theNeandertal ("Neander Valley")", the site nearDüsseldorf where earlyHomo neanderthalensis fossils were first found.
Schadenfreude, "joy from pain" (literally "harm joy"); delight at the misfortune of others
Doppelgänger, literally "double-goer", also spelled in English asdoppelgaenger; a double or look-alike. However, in English the connotation is that of a ghostly apparition of a duplicate living person.
Dreck, literally "dirt" or "smut", but now meaning trashy, awful (throughYiddish,OED s.v.)
Dummkopf, literally "stupid head"; a stupid, ignorant person, similar to "numbskull" in English
Gesundheit, literallyhealth; an exclamation used in place of "bless you!" after someone has sneezed
Hausfrau, pejorative: frumpy, petty-bourgeois, traditional, pre-emancipation type housewife whose interests centre on the home, or who is even exclusively interested in domestic matters (colloquial, American English only), sometimes humorously used to replace "wife", but with the same mildly derisive connotation. The German word has a neutral connotation.
Kaffeeklatsch, literally "coffee gossip"; afternoon meeting where people (usually referring to women, particularlyHausfrauen) chitchat while drinking coffee or tea and having cake.
Kindergarten, literally "children's garden"; day-care centre, playschool, preschool
Kitsch, cheap, sentimental, gaudy items of popular culture
Kraut, literally "cabbage"; derogatory term for a German
Lederhosen (short leather pants for men and boys, often worn with suspenders)
Meister, "master", also as a suffix: –meister; in German,Meister typically refers to the highest educational rank of a craftsperson, various ranks, and to sports champions up toWeltmeister. Note:Meister doesnot refer to the academicmaster degree (which is nowMaster or formerlyMagister, formerlyDiplom-engineer and so forth)
Oktoberfest, Bavarian folk festival held annually inMunich during late September and early October
Poltergeist, literally "noisy ghost"; an allegedparanormal phenomenon where objects appear to move of their own accord
Sitzfleisch, endurance or persistence, especially when requiring sitting for a long time
Spiel, literally "game"; an attempt to present and explain a point in a way that the presenter has done often before, usually to sell something. A voluble line of often extravagant talk, "pitch"
uber, über, "over"; used to indicate that something or someone is of better or superior magnitude, e.g.Übermensch
Ersatz, replacement; usually implying an artificial and inferior substitute or imitation. In German, the word has a neutral connotation, e.g.Ersatzrad simply means "spare wheel" (not an inferior one).
Flak,Flugabwehrkanone, literally:air-defence cannon, for anti-aircraft artillery or their shells, also used inflak jacket; or in the figurative sense: "drawing flak" = being heavily criticized
Kraft as inkraft paper, a strong paper used to make sacks;Kraft in German just means "strength" or "power"
Plandampf, running a scheduled train service with historic steam locomotives, popular with railway enthusiasts.
Volkswagen, literally "people's car"; brand of automobile
German terms sometimes appear in English academic disciplines, e.g. history,psychology, philosophy, music, and thephysical sciences; laypeople in a given field may or may not be familiar with a given German term.
Abwurfdach, removal roof of early modern European fortresses
Angstloch, literally "fear hole", a small hole in the floor of a medieval castle or fortress through which a basement room (popularly described as a "dungeon") can be accessed
Bergfried, a tall tower typical of Central European medieval castles
Biedermeier, of or relating to a style of furniture developed in Germany in the 19th century; in German, it might also derogatively describe a certain old-fashioned, ultra-conservative interior styling. It also describes a certain type of literature in the beginning of the industrialization that represents a longing for the traditional life at that time, with themes of nature and calmness, untouched by the modern world.
Plattenbau, building made from prefabricated slabs; a typical building style of the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, particularly associated withEast Germany
Sondergotik, a Late Gothic architectural style found in Central Europe between 1350 and 1550
Stolperstein, literally "stumbling stone", metaphorically a "stumbling block" or a stone to "stumble upon", a cobblestone-size (10 by 10 centimetres (3.9 in × 3.9 in)) concrete cube bearing abrass plate inscribed with the name and life dates of victims of Nazi extermination or persecution
Viereckschanze, in archaeology, a Celtic fortification of the Iron Age
Hammerklavier, "hammer-keyboard", an archaic term for piano or the name of a specific kind of piano, thefortepiano; most commonly used in English to refer to Beethoven'sHammerklavier Sonata
Hosenrolle, a term formale character, literally "trousers' role"
Neue Deutsche Härte (NDH): "New German Hardness"; a genre ofGerman rock that mixes traditional hard rock with dance-like keyboard parts. Recently it has begun to appear in English.
Neue Slowenische Kunst: "New Slovenian Art". An art collective dating back to the 1980s, whenSlovenia was part ofYugoslavia. Most prominently associated with the bandLaibach, named after the German name for Slovenia's capital city,Ljubljana.
Romantische Oper: genre of early nineteenth-century German opera
Molosser, a type of dog, literally "Molossian", fromMolossus, the name of an ancient dog breed which the modern molossers descend from
Oberhäutchen (often writtenoberhautchen in newer literature), the outermost layer of reptile skin; literally "small top skin" (Häutchen is the diminutive ofHaut, the German word for "skin")
Schreckstoff (lit. "scare stuff"), a chemical alarm signal emitted by fish
Dollar (GermanThaler,Czech:tolar), fromJoachimsthal (Czech:Jáchymov), name for the silver coin minted inBohemia in the 16th century in Joachimsthal (through Dutch(Rijks)daalder)
K: In economics, the letter K, from the German wordKapital, is used to denoteCapital[2][3][4][5]
Luftgeschäft (Yiddish: לופט געשעפט; may also be written as Luftgeschaeft or Luftgescheft), literally "air business", an unstable business or an unproductive profession.
Kulturkampf, literally the 'struggle for culture'; Otto von Bismarck's campaign forsecularity which mostly went against Catholics in the newly formed German state, ostensibly a result of Bismarck's suspicion of Catholic loyalty
Kulturkreis, a theory in anthropology and ethnology
Kulturkugel, literally "culture bullet" or "cultural bullet", aneologism coined by archaeologistJ. P. Mallory for his model of cultural diffusion
Realpolitik (political science: "real politics"); usually implies the way politics really works, i.e. via the influence of power and money, rather than a principled approach that the public might expect to be aligned with a party's or nation's values, or rather than a political party's given interpretation.
Primärberührung, "primary contact", the development of certain consonant clusters (stop consonant + /t/) inProto-Germanic
Rückumlaut, "reverse umlaut", a regular pattern of vowel alternation (of independent origin from usual ablaut patterns) in a small number of Germanic weak verbs
Sprachbund, "speech bond" or"language union", a sociolinguistic term for a group of languages that have become similar because of geographical proximity
Sprachgefühl [de], the intuitive sense of what is appropriate in a language
Ansatz (lit. "set down", roughly equivalent to "approach" or "where to begin", a starting assumption) – one of the most-used German loan words in the English-speaking world of science.
Putsch, overthrow of those in power by a small group, coup d'état. (Although commonly understood and used in contemporary High German, too, the wordputsch originates fromSwiss German and is etymologically related to English "push".)
Realpolitik, "politics of reality": foreign politics based on practical concerns rather than ideology or ethics.
Rechtsstaat, concept of a state based on law and human rights
Gestaltzerfall (lit. "shape decomposition"), a kind of visual agnosia where a complex, holistic shape (Gestalt) dissolves into its parts for the perceiver
Sorge, a state of worry, but (likeAngst) in a less concrete, more general sense, worry about the world, one's future, etc.
Umwelt, environment, literally: "surrounding world"; in semiotics, "self-centred world"
Völkerpsychologie (lit. "folk psychology"), a 19th-20th century cultural-social psychology framework associated withWilhelm Wundt[6]
Weltschmerz (lit. "world-pain"), a deep feeling of sadness experienced by someone who believes that physical reality can never satisfy the demands of the mind
Frau andFräulein – woman and young woman or girl, respectively, in English. Indicating marital state, with Frau – Mrs. andFräulein – Miss; in Germany, however, the diminutiveFräulein lapsed from common usage in the late 1960s. Regardless of marital status, a woman is now commonly referred to asFrau, because from 1972 the termFräulein has been officially phased out for being politically incorrect and should only be used if expressly authorized by the woman concerned.
Führer (umlaut is usually dropped in English) – always used in English to denoteHitler or to connote a fascistic leader – never used, as is possible in German, simply and unironically to denote a (non-fascist) leader or guide (e.g. Bergführer:mountain guide, Stadtführer: city guide [book], Führerschein: driving licence, Geschäftsführer: managing director, Flugzeugführer:Pilot in command)
Gott mit uns – meaning "God be with us", the motto of the Prussian king was used as a morale slogan amongst soldiers in both World Wars. It was bastardized as "Got mittens" by American and British soldiers, and is usually used nowadays, because of the German defeat in both wars, derisively to mean that wars are not won on religious grounds.
Herr – in modern German either the equivalent of Mr. (Mister), to address an adult man, or "master" over something or someone (e.g.Sein eigener Herr sein: to be his own master). Derived from the adjectivehehr, meaning "honourable" or "senior", it was historically a nobleman's title, equivalent to "Lord". (Herr der Fliegen is the German title ofLord of the Flies.) In a religious context it refers to God.
Leitmotif (German spelling:Leitmotiv) – any sort of recurring theme, whether in music, literature, or the life of a fictional character or a real person.
Meister – used as a suffix to mean expert (Maurermeister) or master; in Germany it means also champion in sports (Weltmeister,Europameister,Landesmeister)
Raus – meaningOut! – shortened (colloquial) (depending on where the speaker is, if on the inside "get out!" =hinaus, if on the outside "come out!" =heraus). It is theimperative form of the Germanverbhinausgehen (getting out (of a room/house/etc.)) as in the imperativegehen Sie raus!).[9]
Reich – from the Middle High Germanrich, as a noun it means "empire" or "realm", cf. the English wordbishopric. In titles as part of a compound noun, for exampleDeutsche Reichsbahn, it is equivalent to the English word "national" or possiblyfederal (the words "Reich" and "Bund" are somewhat exchangeable in recent history, with the exception of the Nazi state which continued to call itself Reich despite abolishing states). For instanceReichsbahn ([German] National/Federal Railway), orReichspost (National/Federal Postal Service), specifically indicating in either case that the respective institutions were organised by central authority (called the German Reich at the time), not the states. To some English – and German – speakers,Reich in English strongly connotes Nazism and is sometimes used to suggest fascism or authoritarianism, e.g. "Herr Reichsminister" used as a title for a disliked politician.
Ja – yes
Jawohl – a German term that connotes an emphaticyes – "Yes, indeed!" in English. It is often equated to "yes, sir" in Anglo-American military films, since it is also a term typically used as an acknowledgement for military commands in the German military.
Schnell! – "Quick!" or "Quickly!"
Kommandant – commander (in the sense ofperson in command orcommanding officer, regardless of military rank), used often in the military in general (Standortkommandant:base commander), on battleships andU-boats (Schiffskommandant orU-Boot-Kommandant), sometimes used on civilian ships and aircraft.
Bockmist, lit. "billy goat's dung", meaning "nonsense" or "rubbish"
Eierlegende Wollmilchsau – literally "egg-laying wool-milk-sow", a hypothetical solution, object or person fulfilling unrealistically many different demands; also referring sometimes to a (really existing) object, concept or person like this, for example amulti-tool or exceptionally versatile person (jack of all trades)
Some famous English quotations are translations from German. On rare occasions an author will quote the original German as a sign of erudition.
Muss es sein? Es muss sein!: "Must it be? It must be!" –Beethoven
Der Krieg ist eine bloße Fortsetzung der Politik mit anderen Mitteln: "War is politics by other means" (literally: "War is a mere continuation of politics by other means") –Clausewitz: "Vom Kriege", Book I, Chapter 1, Section 24
Ein Gespenst geht um in Europa – das Gespenst des Kommunismus: "A spectre is haunting Europe – the spectre of communism" –The Communist Manifesto
Gott würfelt nicht: "God does not play dice" –Einstein
Raffiniert ist der Herrgott, aber boshaft ist er nicht: "Subtle is the Lord, but malicious He is not" –Einstein
Wir müssen wissen, wir werden wissen: "We must know, we will know" –David Hilbert
Was kann ich wissen? Was soll ich tun? Was darf ich hoffen? Was ist der Mensch?: "What can I know? What shall I do? What may I hope? What is Man?" –Kant:Kritik der praktischen Vernunft
Die ganzen Zahlen hat der liebe Gott gemacht, alles andere ist Menschenwerk: "God made the integers, all the rest is the work of man" –Leopold Kronecker
Hier stehe ich, ich kann nicht anders. Gott helfe mir. Amen!: "Here I stand, I cannot do differently. God help me. Amen!" – attributed toMartin Luther
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen: "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent" –Wittgenstein
Einmal ist keinmal: "What happens once might as well never have happened." literally "once is never" – a common German phrase and the theme ofThe Unbearable Lightness of Being byMilan Kundera
Es lebe die Freiheit: "Long live freedom" –Hans Scholl
Arbeit macht frei: "Labour creates freedom" literally "work makes (you) free" – A phrase written over the entranceway of extermination camps in the Holocaust.
^Lequiller, François; Blades, Derek (2006). "ch. 6".Understanding National Accounts(PDF (4MB)). Economica. Translated by F. Wells. Paris:OECD. p. 160.ISBN92-64-02566-9.Archived(PDF) from the original on 11 September 2008. Retrieved11 April 2008."K" (for the German word "kapital") indicates capital accumulation items.
