English
Germany
Germany comes from Latin Germānia ‘land of the Germans’, and goes back to Germānus.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEGermānus‘relating to the native peoples or tribes of ancient Germania’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEGermānī
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEGermānia‘land of the Germans’
- Old Englishc. 450–1150Ġermanie
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400Germanie
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1759Germany
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEGermānus‘relating to the native peoples or tribes of ancient Germania’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEGermānī
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEGermānia‘land of the Germans’
- Old Englishc. 450–1150Ġermanie
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400Germanie
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1759Germany
Earliest quotation: 1759, A Military History of Germany; and of En: “There had been a long bloody war in the…”
first attested From Middle English Germanie, from Old English Germanie & Germania, from Latin Germānia (“land of the Germans”), from Germānī, a people living around and east of the Rhine first attested in the 1st century B (as stated in the etymology)
The story
From Middle English Germanie, from Old English Germanie & Germania, from Latin Germānia (‘land of the Germans’), from Germānī, a people living around and east of the Rhine first attested in the 1st century B.C.E. works of Julius Caesar and of uncertain etymology.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain. The exonym was said by Strabo to derive from germānus (‘close kin; genuine’), making it cognate with germane and german, but this seems unsupported. Attempts to derive it from Germanic or Celtic roots since the 18th century are all problematic, although it is perhaps cognate with the Old Irish gair (‘neighbour’). In reference to a medieval kingdom, English Germany is usually an anachronism using the Roman name to describe the area or calquing various Latin terms like rex Teutonicorum ("king of the Teutons"), which were often derogatory exonyms rather than formal titles.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰer- ‘short’
girl, card, chart, rocket, chronic, cartoon, chorus, cartel, cartridge, carton, carte, synchronous, urchin, synchronize, cartography, cron, cartouche, 35 more
Today it means
name A nation or civilization occupying the country around the Rhine, Elbe, and upper Danube Rivers in Central Europe, taken as a whole under its various governments.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin Germānus / Germany