GERMANIC

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Germanic mean? 

• GERMANIC (noun)
  The noun GERMANIC has 1 sense:

1. a branch of the Indo-European family of languages; members that are spoken currently fall into two major groups: Scandinavian and West Germanic

  Familiarity information: GERMANIC used as a noun is very rare.

• GERMANIC (adjective)
  The adjective GERMANIC has 2 senses:

1. of or relating to the language of Germans

2. of or pertaining to the ancient Teutons or their languages

  Familiarity information: GERMANIC used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GERMANIC (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A branch of the Indo-European family of languages; members that are spoken currently fall into two major groups: Scandinavian and West Germanic

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

Germanic; Germanic language

Hypernyms ("Germanic" is a kind of...):

Indo-European; Indo-European language; Indo-Hittite (the family of languages that by 1000 BC were spoken throughout Europe and in parts of southwestern and southern Asia)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Germanic"):

West Germanic; West Germanic language (a branch of the Germanic languages)

Proto-Norse (the Germanic language of Scandinavia up until about 700)

Old Norse (the extinct Germanic language of medieval Scandinavia and Iceland from about to 700 to 1350)

Nordic; Norse; North Germanic; North Germanic language; Scandinavian; Scandinavian language (the northern family of Germanic languages that are spoken in Scandinavia and Iceland)

East Germanic; East Germanic language (an extinct branch of the Germanic languages)

Derivation:

Germanic (of or pertaining to the ancient Teutons or their languages)

• GERMANIC (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to the language of Germans

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

the Germanic sound shifts

Pertainym:

Germanic (a branch of the Indo-European family of languages; members that are spoken currently fall into two major groups: Scandinavian and West Germanic)

Derivation:

German (the standard German language; developed historically from West Germanic)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of or pertaining to the ancient Teutons or their languages

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Synonyms:

Germanic; Teutonic

Context example:

Germanic mythology

Pertainym:

Teuton (a member of the ancient Germanic people who migrated from Jutland to southern Gaul and were annihilated by the Romans)

Derivation:

German (the standard German language; developed historically from West Germanic)

Germanic (a branch of the Indo-European family of languages; members that are spoken currently fall into two major groups: Scandinavian and West Germanic)

 Context examples 

An Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic (Scandinavian) branch; the official language of Iceland.

(Icelandic Language, NCI Thesaurus)

I assure you that our most pan-Germanic Junker is a sucking dove in his feelings towards England as compared with a real bitter Irish-American.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

An Indo-European language belonging to the West Germanic branch; the official language of Britain and the United States, and most of the Commonwealth countries.

(English Language, NCI Thesaurus)

Little Teddy bore a charmed life, for nothing ever happened to him, and Jo never felt any anxiety when he was whisked up into a tree by one lad, galloped off on the back of another, or supplied with sour russets by his indulgent papa, who labored under the Germanic delusion that babies could digest anything, from pickled cabbage to buttons, nails, and their own small shoes.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)