Etymograph

English

Gestapo

Gestapo comes from German Gestapo, and goes back to Staatspolizei ‘secret state police’.

  1. Germanc. 1650–presentStaatspolizei‘secret state police’
  2. German, derivedc. 1650–presentGestapo
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1938same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Germanc. 1650–presentStaatspolizei‘secret state police’
  2. German, derivedc. 1650–presentGestapo
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1938same form

Earliest quotation: 1938, George Orwell pseudonym; Eric Arthur Bla, London: Secker & Warburg: “Fortunately this was Spain and not Germany. The Spanish…”

Every English word from German Staatspolizei

Today it means

name The secret police of Nazi Germany.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / German Staatspolizei / Gestapo

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