High
German Loanwords in English
Updated: 26 Mar 2000
Introduction:
This small collection of High German loans into English is based mainly
on the items provided by Pfeffer/Cannon (1994) and Speake (1998). The
background information has been taken mainly from Pfeffer and Serjeantson, but
Jespersen has also been useful in this regard. This collection cannot be - nor
indeed is - in any way comprehensive. I have merely collected those loans from
High German which I personally consider to be either common, well-known,
interesting or represent lexical items in various specialist fields. Many
specialist terms and indeed a number of slightly more common words have not
been included. To do proper justice to the High German influence on English
would require much greater research and effort than is possible here. The
interested reader who requires further and more detailed information is advised
in the first instance to consult Pfeffer, whose book provides a very readable,
methodical and apparently comprehensive treatment of HG loans in English. Dates
have been taken from Pfeffer where possible, otherwise from Speake.
In general, I have not explained the German loans, since many are
self-explanatory, others have no formal synonyms in English and still others
would need more extensive explanation than the trouble would merit. In a few
cases, for some of the more unusual terms or for those readers with slightly
less German, I’ve added very brief explanations. This list generally assumes
the reader is familiar with many more common German words.
In the majority of cases, German words are not calqued in English,
i.e. they are loaned directly from the source language and their form is seldom
changed from the original. Jespersen remarks that the forms Siebengebirge
and Riesengebirge are much more commonly met with than the
Until the 1500s, the HG input in English was practically zero.
Before then, the major West Germanic influence on the English vocabulary had
been the quite considerable number of words loaned from Middle Low German and
Middle Dutch. But in the late 1500s, many German miners were imported to work
in English mines and the German contribution to English mineralogy terminology
in particular has been extensive (e.g. feldspar, gneiss, quartz).
This has been one of the most distinctive German contributions to the English
vocabulary - the Germans at that time were skilled in mining and metal-working
- but others include such fields as chemistry, psychology (Freud, Jung, Adler),
philosophy (Kant, Nietzsche) and linguistics (Grimm, Bopp).
The dictionary section of Pfeffer and Cannon includes 5,380 loans
from HG, although many are in specialist scientific fields, in particular,
mineralogy, chemistry and psychology. The earliest of these loans is recorded
from 1346, while the latest items are dated to 1990.
The great majority of HG loans into English has occurred in the 19th
and 20th centuries, and as far as I can tell, slightly more were
loaned during the 1800s than the following century. The
Pfeffer and Cannon’s excellent study has shown that Jespersen’s
remark (p.143) “There are surprisingly few German loan-words in English” cannot
be upheld, while the same author’s observation (p.143) that “very little can be
inferred from them with regard to cultural relations, apart, perhaps, from some
philosophical terms...” is a little closer to the truth. But even here, the
study of Pfeffer and Cannon has shown that German has contributed much to the
terminology of many important fields in English cultural life. It is especially
the case in the sciences, however, that the German language has enriched
English and in whose various constituent disciplines, if taken as whole, the
Germans justly have a reputation for excellence. The work of Pfeffer and Cannon
reveals that about 30% of German loans into English are from the fields of
mineralogy and chemistry alone, while biology, geology and botany constitute a
further 10% (Pfeffer, xxii). Of direct relevance for the studies
presented on this site is the knowledge that German has contributed some 101
terms to the English vocabulary within linguistics, 73 within literature and 33
within mythology (Pfeffer, pp. 4-5).
In the vast majority of cases, German loans have added to the
lexical resources available to English speakers, rather than replacing any
already existing words (cf. the rather different situation regarding French,
Latin and Greek imports into English). The total corpus collected by Pfeffer
and Cannon would lead one to believe that the High German lexical contribution
has been rather greater than many linguists were inclined to believe in the
past. This is certainly the case if we are arguing purely on the total number
of words borrowed. However, if we are basing our judgment on the size and
importance of the German element in the everyday English vocabulary, the
picture is rather different. In this case, the German element has been
negligible and is in no way comparable to the huge impact that French, Old
Norse, Latin and even Low German have had on the lexis of everyday colloquial
English.
Notes:
In a number of cases, a German noun is loaned directly into
English with the capital letter retained and this is one indicator that reveals
the word was, or is, still felt to be foreign in English, i.e. it is a
Gastwort. Quite often this noun will later be re-spelt with a lower case
initial letter, as is custom with all English nouns that have been fully
assimilated. Sometimes, however, the noun will be spelt in English using lower
case from the outset, and then later adopt a capital initial letter in accordance
with the German practice, apparently to consciously affirm the German origin of
the source word. In such cases, the earliest recorded appearance in English,
irrespective of orthography is given.
Loan-translations
have the German source word given in italics, where known.
Explanations
and translations are generally taken from Pfeffer/Cannon.
German
loans sorted by date
1400 and 1500s:
marzipan (1494); landgrave (1516) a
German count; pfennig (1547); junker
(1554) a German nobleman; burgher (1568); masterpiece (1579); Landtag
(1591) now refers to the convening of the parliament in certain German states;
1600s:
hamster (1607); Wendish (1617); Schloss
(1617) a German castle or manor house; sauerkraut (1617); quartz
(1631); plunder (1632 - Thirty Years’ War); kobold (1635) a
goblin or cave dwelling wight, especially in German folklore; zinc
(1641); pumpernickel (1663); cobalt (1683); Fräulein
(1689) a young unmarried (German) woman or girl; huntmaster (1691) < Jägermeister;
krummhorn (1694) an obsolete wind reed instrument;
1700s:
seltzer (1741); shale (1747); nickel
(1755); homesickness (1756) < Heimweh; gneiss (1757); feldspar
(1757); Valkyrie (1768); Valhalla (1768); hornblende
(1770); swindler (1774); Sturm und Drang (1776) a passionate
German literary movement in the late 1700s (> Storm and Stress,
1855); jaeger, jäger (1776) "German rifleman"; noodle
(1779); waltz (1781); meerschaum (1784) Sepiolite, a hydrated
magnesium silicate or a pipe made from this (> sea-foam,
1837); Grenzbegriff (1787) a borderline concept; Totentanz (1789)
the dance of death, Danse macabre; nix (1789) nothing; fatherland
(1791-1823) < Vaterland; schema (1796); foreworld
(1796) primeval or ancient world, < Vorwelt; hausfrau (1798);
1800s:
Vorstellung (1807) an idea, image or mental
picture; kaiser (1807); dummkopf (1809); cookbook (1809)
< Kuchbuch; kriegsspiel (1811) a type of military board-game; Plattdeutsch
(1814); landsturm (1814) "reserve force, militia, levies"; handbook
(1814) < Handbuch; landwehr (1815) "army reserve"; Naturphilosophie
(1817); schnapps (1818); poodle (1820); Walpurgis Night
(1822); ritter (1824) a knight or member of the lower German nobility; pretzel
(1824); living room (1825) < Wohnzimmer; glockenspiel
(1825); Indo-Germanic (1826); Weltliteratur (1827); semester
(1827); war game (1828) < Kriegsspiel; alpenstock
(1829) a long staff with a metal point used in mountain climbing; standpoint
(1829) < Standpunkt; doppelganger (1830); swan song
(1831) < Schwanengesang; Germanist (1831); gasthof
(1832) a German hotel or country inn; nix (1833) a bathing spirit in
German folklore; Wissenschaft (1834) knowledge, learning, scholarship,
science; gasthaus (1834) a German inn or tavern; Middle English
(1836); Gelehrte (1836) a scholar; yodel (1838); protein
(1838); paraffin (1838); Low German (1838) < Plattdeutsch;
Stadthaus (1839) a German town hall; mark (1839); dachshund
(1840); Nachlass (1842) unpublished posthumous literary works of an
author; foreword (1842) < Vorwort; Fach (1842); zollverein
(1843) customs union; bergschrund (1843); umlaut (1844); kraut
(1845); folklore (1846) < Volkskunde; Ding an sich
(1846) Thing-in-itself; Dasein (1846) existence; an sich (1846); prosit
(1846); Sehnsucht (1847) yearning or wistful longing (> longing,
1955); zeitgeist (1848); Schinken (1848); poltergeist
(1848); katzenjammer (1849) hangover; ablaut (1849); zither
(1850); Wirtschaft (1850) domestic economy, housekeeping; Bund
(1850) federation or association, especially political; Vaterland
(1852); Schadenfreude (1852) enjoyment of others’ misfortunes; Lied
(1852); kindergarten (1852); gemütlich (1852); lager
(1853); kuchen (1854) a name for several varieties of coffee cake; schnitzel
(1854); Schmelz (1854); Völkerwanderung (1855); liverwurst
(1855); Lebenslust (1855) joie d’vivre; war-lord (1856) < Kriegsherr;
blutwurst (1856); Anschaung (1856) sensory intuition; Ewigkeit
(1857); Volkslied (1858); unberufen (1858); word-lore
(1861) morphology and word-formation < Wortlehre; edelweiss
(1862); Lehrjahre (1865) an informal term of apprenticeship; rinderpest
(1865), > cattle pest (1866); rucksack (1866); wiener
(1867); Reichstag (1867) the lower German national parliamentary
chamber; Weltanschauung (1868) world-view; liebling (1868); kirsch
(1869); i-umlaut (1870); Weltstadt (1870-99); Märchen
(1871) a fairy tale or folk-tale; Trinkhalle (1873) room in a spa where
the water can be drunk; soundlaw (1874) < Lautgesetz; loanword
(1874) < Lehnwort; spectrometer (1874); Weltschmerz
(1875); überhaupt (1875) in general, considered as a whole; ersatz
(1875); vorspiel (1876) prelude or overture; singspiel (1876); Minnelied
(1876) a love song or lay; liebchen (1876); leitmotif (1876); Kulturgeschichte
(1876); Grübelsucht (1876) an obsessive disorder in which even basic
facts are questioned; frankfurter (1877); delicatessen (1877); Nachschlag
(1879); rückumlaut (late 1800s?) > unmutation; affricate
(1880); anlaut (1881) the initial sound of a word or syllable; auslaut
(1882); breaking (1883) < Brechung; folk etymology
(1883); hamburger (1884); Wein, Wieb und Gesang (1885); und so
weiter (1885); offprint (1885) < Abdruck; erbswurst
(1885); Fraktur (1886); Gesellschaft (1887) a society based on
the rationally conceived duties of its constituents; Gemeinschaft (1887)
a society based on community, kinship or affection; backfisch (1888) a
fish too small to be boiled but large enough to be baked; speech/linguistic
island (1888) < Sprachinsel; sauerbraten (1889) a dish of
marinated roasted beef (> sour beef (1935)); wienerwurst
(1889); seminar (1889); hinterland (1890); gestalt (1890);
giro (1890); wunderkind (1891); Kunstgeschichte (1892) art
history; klabberjass (1892); Gutnish (1892) pertaining to the
Swedish island of Gotland; its language; gemütlichkeit (1892); volksfest
(1893); strudel (1893); horst (1893); pleasure-pain (1894)
< Lust-Unlust; diesel (1894); schwa (1895); kaput
(1895); spiel (1896); Festschrift (1898); Weinstube (1899)
a small German saloon; Kunstforscher (1899) art historian;
1900s:
Achtung (1900s); Erlebnis (1900-29) the
mind’s identification with its own emotions and feelings; gallows humour
(1901) < Galgenhumor; wanderlust (1902); klippe (1902);
Weltpolitik (1903); zugswang (1904) a situation in chess where
any move would result in disadvantage but the player is compelled to do so; einfühlung
(1904) empathy (> empathy, 1904); lebensraum (1905) space
considered necessary for the health and development of a nation (> living
room, 1934); hochgeboren (1905); felsenmeer (1905) a boulder field; Stollen (1906); Schweinerei
(1906); Drang
nach Osten
(1906) the imperialistic foreign policy of Germany re. eastern Europe in the
1930s; Drang (1906); Wehmut (1907) sadness, melancholy,
nostalgia; quatsch (1907); Ursprache (1908); Stimmung
(1909) mood, atmosphere, ambiance; Götterdämmerung (1909); Bildungsroman
(1910) a novel charting the maturation or mental and emotional development of
its protagonist; schmerz (1911); verboten (1912); Galgenhumor
(1912); doctorand (1912); Neanderthaler (1913); U-boat (1913);
realpolitik (1914); glutwolke (1914) nuée ardente; gesundheit
(1914); kamerad (1914) used by German soldiers in WWI as a cry of
surrender; Schrecklichkeit (1915) a policy of horror or terrorism,
especially in war (> frightfulness (1914)); strafe (1915); echt
(1916); Doberman (1917); breakthrough (1918) < Durchbruch;
Spielraum (1921) the range of variables considered in projecting the
likelihood of an hypothesis; Reich (1921); spurlos (1922) without
a trace, from sight; Formgeschichte (1923); nicht wahr (1924); isogloss
(1925); kitsch (1926); langlauf (1927) cross-country skiing; Neue
Sachlichkeit (1929) a new pragmatic realism in the arts developed in
Germany in the 1920s; knackwurst (1929); Schwerpunkt (1930-69)
focus, emphasis; quark (1930-69); Sitzfleisch (1930)
staying-power, determination, perseverence; Mischsprache (1930) a hybrid
or mixed language; bierhaus (1930); Schriftsprache (1931); Urtext
(1932) an original text, the source text or earliest version (urtext
appears in 1959); malerisch (1933); loan translation (1933) < Lehnübersetzung;
abseil (1933); Weltbild (1934) view of life, world-view; Verstehen
(1934); Urheimat (1934); Gestapo (1934); Führer (1934); Wehrmacht
(1935) the collective name for the German armed forces from 1929-1945; Rechtsstaat
(1935); Luftwaffe (1935); hausmaler (1935); Volksgeist
(1936) the spirit characterizing the thought or feeling of a nation or people; lederhosen
(1936); Kunstprosa (1936) a highly stylised literary prose; Lebensform
(1937) any human activity that involves values of any kind; a style of living; Kunsthistoriker
(1937) art historian; autobahn (1937); Untergang (1938); Umgangssprache
(1938); U-bahn (1938); völkisch (1939) populist, nationalist or
racist; Stammbaum (1939); blitzkrieg (1939); Sieg Heil
(1940); panzer (1940); Herrenvolk (1940) the Master race in Nazi
ideology; blitz (1940); zwischenzug (1941) an interim or
temporising move in chess; Künstlerroman (1941) a Bildungsroman
about an artist; snorkel (1947); Sicherheitsdienst (1947) the
security division of the SS of Nazi Germany; Kulturkreis (1948); Schimpfwort
(1949); Stammbaumtheorie (1954) a linguistic pedigree theory of
languages (> family-tree theory, 1933); Mitsein (1955) the
concept of a person’s being in its relationship with others; Quellenforschung
(1958); vorlaufer (1961) a skiier who sets the benchmark before a skiing
competition begins by completing the course in question (> forerunner,
1949); spritzer (1961); Ostpolitik (1961); Lebenswelt
(1962) the world of direct, first-hand experience; glitch (1962); Weisswurst
(1963); zeitgeber (1964); Untermensch (1964); Umwelt
(1964); Kunstforschung (1966) art history; über alles (1967); Mittelstand
(1970-1990) something between extremes of size, middling size range; Westpolitik
(1970); Mitbestimmung (1970) the right of worker participation in
corporate management; Gastarbeiter (1970); Tafelwein (1972); Qualitätswein
(1972); hinterlander (1973); Gott im Himmel (1980) good heavens!;
du lieber Gott (1980) dear God!; lager (1987) concentration camp;
Rottweiler (1989);
Undated but from the period 1850-1960:
Rückbildung > back-formation;
Lehnwort > loanword;
Gastwort a foreign word which retains its
foreign spelling, prounciation and meaning in another language, e.g. as in passé,
diva and leitmotiv in English;
Fremdwort a word that has undergone partial
assimilation to the borrowing language, e.g. as in garage in English;
ii)
German loans sorted by subject
SCIENCES
Wissenschaft (1834) knowledge, learning,
scholarship, science; Fach (1842); Spielraum (1921) the range of
variables considered in projecting the likelihood of an hypothesis;
Mineralogy, Geology and Metallurgy
quartz (1631); zinc (1641); cobalt
(1683); shale (1747); nickel (1755); gneiss (1757); feldspar
(1757); hornblende (1770); bergschrund (1843); horst
(1893); klippe (1902); felsenmeer (1905) a boulder field;
Physics,
Chemistry and Biology
seltzer (1741); meerschaum (1784) Sepiolite, a
hydrated magnesium silicate or a pipe made from this (> sea-foam,
1837); protein (1838); paraffin (1838); rinderpest (1865),
> cattle pest (1866); spectrometer (1874); diesel
(1894); glutwolke (1914) nuée ardente; zeitgeber (1964); Umwelt
(1964);
ARTS
AND HUMANITIES
General
Humanities
masterpiece (1579); Festschrift (1898); Neue
Sachlichkeit (1929) a new pragmatic realism in the arts developed in
Germany in the 1920s; malerisch (1933);
Music, Sport and Games
krummhorn (1694) an obsolete wind reed
instrument; waltz (1781); glockenspiel (1825); alpenstock
(1829) a long staff with a metal point used in mountain climbing; yodel
(1838); zither (1850); Lied (1852); Volkslied (1858); vorspiel
(1876) prelude or overture; singspiel (1876); Minnelied (1876) a
love song or lay; Nachschlag (1879); klabberjass (1892); zugswang
(1904) a situation in chess where any move would result in disadvantage but the
player is compelled to do so; langlauf (1927) cross-country skiing; zwischenzug
(1941) an interim or temporising move in chess; snorkel (1947); vorlaufer
(1961) a skiier who sets the benchmark before a skiing competition begins by
completing the course in question (> forerunner, 1949);
Philosophy
Grenzbegriff (1787) a borderline concept; Vorstellung
(1807) an idea, image or mental picture; Naturphilosophie (1817); Ding
an sich (1846) Thing-in-itself; Dasein (1846) existence; an sich
(1846); Anschaung (1856) sensory intuition; Weltanschauung (1868)
world-view; Mitsein (1955) the concept of a person’s being in its
relationship with others; Lebenswelt (1962) the world of direct,
first-hand experience;
Psychology
Sehnsucht (1847) yearning or wistful longing
(> longing, 1955); Schadenfreude (1852) enjoyment of others’
misfortunes; Lebenslust (1855) joie d’vivre; Weltschmerz (1875); Grübelsucht
(1876) an obsessive disorder in which even basic facts are questioned; gestalt
(1890); pleasure-pain (1894) < Lust-Unlust; Erlebnis
(1900-29) the mind’s identification with its own emotions and feelings; gallows
humour (1901) < Galgenhumor; einfühlung (1904) empathy
(> empathy, 1904); lebensraum (1905) space considered necessary
for the health and development of a nation (> living room, 1934); Wehmut
(1907) sadness, melancholy, nostalgia; schmerz (1911); Galgenhumor
(1912);
Literature,
Mythology and Folklore
kobold (1635) a goblin or cave dwelling wight,
especially in German folklore; Valkyrie (1768); Valhalla (1768); Sturm
und Drang (1776) a passionate German literary movement in the late 1700s
(> Storm and Stress, 1855); Totentanz (1789) the dance of
death, Danse macabre; Walpurgis Night (1822); Weltliteratur
(1827); swan song (1831) < Schwanengesang; Germanist
(1831); nix (1833) a bathing spirit in German folklore; Nachlass
(1842) unpublished posthumous literary works of an author; foreword
(1842) < Vorwort; folklore (1846) < Volkskunde; poltergeist
(1848); Märchen (1871) a fairy tale or folk-tale; leitmotif
(1876); Fraktur (1886); Götterdämmerung (1909); Bildungsroman
(1910) a novel charting the maturation or mental and emotional development of
its protagonist; Formgeschichte (1923); Kunstprosa (1936) a
highly stylised literary prose; Künstlerroman (1941) a Bildungsroman
about an artist; Quellenforschung (1958);
Linguistics
Wendish (1617); Plattdeutsch (1814); Indo-Germanic
(1826); Middle English (1836); Low German (1838) < Plattdeutsch;
umlaut (1844); ablaut (1849); word-lore (1861) morphology
and word-formation < Wortlehre; i-umlaut (1870); soundlaw
(1874) < Lautgesetz; loanword (1874) < Lehnwort; rückumlaut
(late 1800s?) > unmutation; affricate (1880); anlaut
(1881) the initial sound of a word or syllable; auslaut (1882); breaking
(1883) < Brechung; folk etymology (1883); speech/linguistic
island (1888) < Sprachinsel; Gutnish (1892) pertaining to
the Swedish island of Gotland; its language; schwa (1895); Ursprache
(1908); isogloss (1925); Mischsprache (1930) a hybrid or mixed
language; Schriftsprache (1931); Urtext (1932) an original text,
the source text or earliest version (urtext appears in 1959); loan
translation (1933) < Lehnübersetzung; Umgangssprache
(1938); Stammbaum (1939); Schimpfwort (1949); Stammbaumtheorie
(1954) a linguistic pedigree theory of languages (> family-tree theory,
1933); Rückbildung (1850-1960) > back-formation; Lehnwort
(1850-1960) > loanword; Gastwort (1850-1960) a foreign word
which retains its foreign spelling, prounciation and meaning in another
language, e.g. as in passé, diva and leitmotiv in English;
Fremdwort (1850-1960) a word that has undergone partial assimilation to
the borrowing language, e.g. as in garage in English;
History, Anthropology and
Archaeology
foreworld (1796) primeval or ancient world,
< Vorwelt; Indo-Germanic (1826); Völkerwanderung
(1855); Kulturgeschichte (1876); Kunstgeschichte (1892) art
history; Kunstforscher (1899) art historian; Neanderthaler
(1913); Urheimat (1934); Kunsthistoriker (1937) art historian; Kunstforschung
(1966) art history;
Sociology
Gesellschaft (1887) a society based on the
rationally conceived duties of its constituents; Gemeinschaft (1887) a
society based on community, kinship or affection; Weltbild (1934) view
of life, world-view; Verstehen (1934); Volksgeist (1936) the
spirit characterizing the thought or feeling of a nation or people; Lebensform
(1937) any human activity that involves values of any kind; a style of living; völkisch
(1939) populist, nationalist or racist; Kulturkreis (1948); Untermensch
(1964);
Politics
landgrave (1516) a German count; ); junker
(1554) a German nobleman; burgher (1568); Landtag (1591) now
refers to the convening of the parliament in certain German states; huntmaster
(1691) < Jägermeister; fatherland (1791-1823) < Vaterland;
kaiser (1807); ritter (1824) a knight or member of the lower
German nobility; Stadthaus (1839) a German town hall; zollverein
(1843) customs union; Bund (1850) federation or association, especially
political; Vaterland (1852); Reichstag (1867) the lower German
national parliamentary chamber; Weltstadt (1870-99); hinterland
(1890); Weltpolitik (1903); hochgeboren (1905); Drang nach
Osten (1906) the imperialistic foreign policy of Germany re. eastern Europe
in the 1930s; realpolitik (1914); Reich (1921); Führer
(1934); Rechtsstaat (1935); Herrenvolk (1940) the Master race in
Nazi ideology; Ostpolitik (1961); Westpolitik (1970); Mitbestimmung
(1970) the right of worker participation in corporate management; Gastarbeiter
(1970); lager (1987) concentration camp;
Military
plunder (1632 - Thirty Years’ War); jaeger, jäger
(1776) "German rifleman"; kriegsspiel (1811) a type of
military board-game; landsturm (1814) "reserve force, militia,
levies"; landwehr (1815) "army reserve"; war game
(1828) < Kriegsspiel; war-lord (1856) < Kriegsherr; U-boat
(1913); kamerad (1914) used by German soldiers in WWI as a cry of
surrender; Schrecklichkeit (1915) a policy of horror or terrorism,
especially in war (> frightfulness (1914)); strafe (1915); Gestapo
(1934); Wehrmacht (1935) the collective name for the German armed forces
from 1929-1945; Luftwaffe (1935); blitzkrieg (1939); Sieg Heil
(1940); panzer (1940); blitz (1940); Sicherheitsdienst
(1947) the security division of the SS of Nazi Germany;
Food
and Drink
marzipan (1494); sauerkraut (1617); pumpernickel
(1663); noodle (1779); cookbook (1809); schnapps (1818); pretzel
(1824); kraut (1845); Schinken (1848); lager (1853); kuchen
(1854) a name for several varieties of coffee cake; schnitzel (1854); liverwurst
(1855); blutwurst (1856); wiener (1867); kirsch (1869); frankfurter
(1877); delicatessen (1877); hamburger (1884); erbswurst
(1885); backfisch (1888) a fish too small to be boiled but large enough
to be baked; sauerbraten (1889) a dish of marinated roasted beef (> sour
beef (1935)); wienerwurst (1889); strudel (1893); Stollen
(1906); knackwurst (1929); quark (1930-69); spritzer
(1961); Weisswurst (1963); Tafelwein (1972); Qualitätswein
(1972);
Everyday
and General
pfennig (1547); hamster (1607); Schloss
(1617) a German castle or manor house; ); Fräulein (1689) a young
unmarried (German) woman or girl; homesickness (1756) < Heimweh;
swindler (1774); nix (1789) nothing; schema (1796); hausfrau
(1798); dummkopf (1809); handbook (1814) < Handbuch; poodle
(1820); living room (1825) < Wohnzimmer; semester
(1827); standpoint (1829) < Standpunkt; doppelganger
(1830); gasthof (1832) a German hotel or country inn; gasthaus
(1834) a German inn or tavern; Gelehrte (1836) a scholar; mark
(1839); dachshund (1840); prosit (1846); zeitgeist (1848);
katzenjammer (1849) hangover; Wirtschaft (1850) domestic economy,
housekeeping; kindergarten (1852); gemütlich (1852); Schmelz
(1854); Ewigkeit (1857); unberufen (1858); edelweiss
(1862); Lehrjahre (1865) an informal term of apprenticeship; rucksack
(1866); liebling (1868); Trinkhalle (1873) room in a spa where
the water can be drunk; überhaupt (1875) in general, considered as a
whole; ersatz (1875); liebchen (1876); Wein, Wieb und Gesang
(1885); und so weiter (1885); offprint (1885) < Abdruck;
seminar (1889); giro (1890); wunderkind (1891); gemütlichkeit
(1892); volksfest (1893); spiel (1896); Weinstube (1899) a
small German saloon; Achtung (1900s); wanderlust (1902); Schweinerei
(1906); Drang (1906); quatsch (1907); Stimmung (1909)
mood, atmosphere, ambiance; verboten (1912); doctorand (1912); gesundheit
(1914); echt (1916); Doberman (1917); breakthrough (1918)
< Durchbruch; spurlos (1922) without a trace, from sight; nicht
wahr (1924); kitsch (1926); Schwerpunkt (1930-69) focus,
emphasis; Sitzfleisch (1930) staying-power, determination, perseverence;
bierhaus (1930); abseil (1933); hausmaler (1935); lederhosen
(1936); autobahn (1937); Untergang (1938); U-bahn (1938); glitch
(1962); über alles (1967); Mittelstand (1970-1990) something
between extremes of size, middling size range; hinterlander (1973); Gott
im Himmel (1980) good heavens!; du lieber Gott (1980) dear God!; Rottweiler
(1989);
*sources:
Barber,
Charles: The English Language: A Historical Introduction. (Cambridge
Approaches to Linguistics). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993;
Collins English Dictionary
(Millennium Edition), HarperCollins Publishers, Glasgow, 1998;
Freeborn,
Dennis: From Old English to Standard English. 2nd
revised and enlarged edition. London: Macmillan Press Ltd., 1998;
Hoad,
T.F. (ed.): The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996;
Hughes,
Geoffrey: A History of English Words. Oxford: Blackwell
Publishers Ltd., 2000;
Jespersen,
Otto: Growth and Structure of the English Language. Oxford: Basil
Blackwell, 1956;
Pfeffer,
J.A & Cannon, G.: German Loanwords in English. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1994;
Serjeantson,
M.S.: A History of Foreign Words in English, London, 1935;
Speake,
J. (ed.): The Oxford Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
© Edward Smith
2011. E-mail the author