This is a list of German expressions used in English; some relatively common (e.g. hamburger), most comparatively rare. In many cases, the German borrowing in English has assumed a meaning substantially different from its German forebear.

English and German both descended from the West Germanic languages, though their relationship has been obscured by the great influx of Norman French words to English as a consequence of the Norman conquest of England in 1066, and the High German consonant shift. In recent years, however, many English words have been borrowed directly from German. Typically, English spellings of Germanloanwords suppress any umlauts (the superscript, double-dot diacritic in Ä, Ö, Ü, ä, ö and ü) of the original word or replace the umlaut letters with Ae, Oe, Ue, ae, oe, ue, respectively (influenced by Latin: æ, œ.)

German words have been incorporated into English usage for many reasons: common cultural artefacts, especially foods, have spread to English-speaking nations and often are identified either by their original German names or by German-sounding English names; the history of academic excellence of the German-speaking nations in science, scholarship, and classical music has led to the academic adoption of much German for use in English context; discussion of German history and culture requires knowing German words. Lastly, some German words are used simply to fictionalise an English narrative passage, implying that the subject expressed is in German, i.e. using Frau, Reich, and so on, although sometimes usage of German words holds no German implication, as in doppelgänger or angst.

As languages, English and German descend from the common ancestor language West Germanic and further back to Proto-Germanic; because of this, some English words are identical to their German lexical counterparts, either in the spelling (Hand, Sand, Finger) or in the pronunciation (Fish = Fisch, Mouse =Maus), or both (Arm, Ring); these are excluded from this words list.

Contents

 [hide]

[edit]German terms commonly used in English

The German words of this category will easily be recognized by many English speakers; they are commonly used in English contexts. Some, such as wurst or pumpernickel, still retain German connotations, while others, such as lager and hamburger, retain none. Not every word is recognizable outside its relevant context.

[edit]Food and drink

[edit]Sports and recreation

[edit]Other aspects of everyday life

[edit]German terms common in English academic context

German terms sometimes appear in English academic disciplines, e.g. history, psychology, philosophy,music, and the physical sciences; laypeople in a given field may or may not be familiar with a given German term.

[edit]Academia

[edit]Architecture

[edit]Arts

[edit]Music

[edit]Meanings of German band names
[edit]Genres
[edit]Selected works in classical music
[edit]Carols and hymns
[edit]Modern songs

[edit]Theatre

[edit]Typography

[edit]Biology

[edit]Chess

[edit]Economics

[edit]Geography

[edit]Geology

Minerals including:

[edit]History

(Some terms are listed in multiple categories if they are important to each.)

[edit]The Third Reich

Main articles: Glossary of the Weimar Republic and Glossary of Nazi Germany

[edit]Other historical periods

[edit]Military terms

[edit]Linguistics

[edit]Literature

[edit]Mathematics and formal logic

[edit]Medicine

[edit]Philosophy

[edit]Physical sciences

[edit]Politics

[edit]Psychology

[edit]Sociology

[edit]Theology

[edit]German terms mostly used for literary effect

There are a few terms which are recognised by many English speakers but are usually only used to deliberately evoke a German context:

[edit]German terms rarely used in English

This is the unsorted, original list. If a term is common in a particular academic discipline, and there is no more commonly used English equivalent, then please move it to the list above.

[edit]Quotations

Some famous English quotations are translations from German. On rare occasions an author will quote the original German as a sign of erudition.

This is a list of pseudo-German words adopted from German and adapted in such a way into English that their original meanings are no longer readily recognised by indigenous German speakers due to the new circumstances in which they were being used in English:

Contents: Top · 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

[edit]A

Aardvark 
from both Afrikaans and Dutch, literally "earth-pig" (the animal burrows), from aard (="earth") +varken (="pig")[1]
Afrikaans 
from Afrikaans (via Afrikaans) (="African" adj.)
Ahoy 
from hoi (="hello")
Aloof 
from a- + Middle English loof (="weather gage," also "windward direction"), probably from Dutch loef(="the weather side of a ship"); originally a nautical order to keep the ship's head to the wind, thus to stay clear of a lee-shore or some other quarter, hence the figurative sense of "at a distance, apart"[2]
Anchor 
"liquid measure", that of Rotterdam, once used in England, from Dutch anker[3]
Avast 
a nautical interjection (="hold! stop!"), probably worn down from Dutch houd vast (="hold fast")[4]

[edit]B

Bamboo 
from Dutch bamboe, from Portuguese bambu, earlier mambu (16th century), probably from Malaysamambu, though some suspect this is itself an imported word [5]
Bantam 
after Bantam, former Dutch residency in Java, from which the small domestic fowl were said to have been first imported [6] The word could have originated in Kannada ಬಮ್ಬು bambu.[2]
Batik 
from Dutch, from Malay mbatik (="writing, drawing") [7]
Bazooka 
"metal tube rocket launcher," from name of a junkyard musical instrument used as a prop by U.S. comedian Bob Burns, extension of bazoo (slang for "mouth" or "boastful talk"), probably from Dutchbazuin (="trumpet") [8]
Beaker 
from beker [9] (="mug, cup")
Beleaguer 
from belegeren (="besiege, attack with an army") [10]
Berm 
from French berme, from Old Dutch baerm (in Dutch, the English meaning is now archaic, bermbeing used as "usually grassy ground alongside a road") [11]
Bicker 
"a skirmish, fight," bikern, probably from Middle Dutch bicken (="to slash, stab, attack") + -er, Middle English frequentative suffix [12]
Blare 
blèren (="to wail"), possibly from an unrecorded Old English *blæren, or from Middle Dutch bleren(="to bleat, cry, bawl, shout") [13]
Blasé 
from French blasé, past participle of blaser (="to satiate"), origin unknown; perhaps from Dutchblazen (="to blow"), with a sense of "puffed up under the effects of drinking" [14]
Blaze (to make public, often in a bad sense, boastfully) 
from Middle Dutch blasen (="to blow, on a trumpet) [15]
Blink 
from Middle Dutch blinken (="to glitter") [16]
Blister 
from Old French blestre, perhaps from a Scandinavian source or from Middle Dutch blyster(="swelling") [17]
Block (solid piece) 
from Old French bloc (="log, block"), via Middle Dutch bloc (="trunk of a tree") or Old High Germanbloh [18]
Blow (hard hit) 
blowe, from northern and East Midlands dialects, perhaps from Middle Dutch blouwen (="to beat")[19]
Bluff (poker term) 
perhaps from Dutch bluffen (="to brag, boast") or verbluffen (="to baffle, mislead") [20]
Bluff (landscape feature) 
from Dutch blaf (="flat, broad"), apparently a North Sea nautical term for ships with flat vertical bows, later extended to landscape features [21]
Blunderbuss 
from Dutch donderbus, from donder (="thunder") + bus (="gun," originally "box, tube"), altered by resemblance to blunder [22]
Boer 
(="Dutch colonist in South Africa") from Dutch boer (="farmer"), from Middle Dutch [23]
Bogart
after Humphrey Bogart[24]. Boomgaard means "orchard"[25].
Boodle 
perhaps from Dutch boedel (="property") [26]
Boom 
from boom (="tree"); cognate to English beam, German baum[27]
Booze 
from Middle Dutch busen (="to drink in excess"); [28] according to JW de Vries busen is equivalent to buizen [3]
Boss 
from baas [29]
Bow (front of a ship) 
from boeg [30]
Brackish 
from Scottish brack, from Middle Dutch brak (="salty," also "worthless") [31]
Brandy (wine) 
from brandewijn (literally "burnt wine") [32]
Brawl 
from brallen [33]
Brooklyn 
after the town of Breukelen near Utrecht Brooklyn
Bully 
from boel (="lover," "brother"), from Middle High German buole, maybe influenced by bull[34].
Bulwark 
from bolwerk [35]
Bundle 
from Middle Dutch bondel (=diminutive of bond), from binden "bind," or perhaps a merger of this word and Old English byndele (="binding") [36]
Bumpkin
from bommekijn (="little barrel") [37]
Bung 
from Middle Dutch bonge (="stopper"), or perhaps from French bonde, which may be of Germanic origin, or from Gaulish bunda [38]
Buoy 
from boei (="shackle" or "buoy") [39]
Bush (uncleared district of a British colony) 
probably from Dutch bosch, in the same sense, since it seems to appear first in former Dutch colonies [40]

[edit]C

Caboose 
from kambuis or kombuis (="ship's kitchen", "galley") [41]
Cam 
from Dutch cam (="cog of a wheel," originally "comb"), cognate of English comb
Clove (disambiguation) 
from kloof [3] (="steep valley", "gorge")
Cockatoo 
from kaketoe [42]
Coleslaw 
from koolsla (literally "cabbage salad") [43]
Commodore 
probably from Dutch kommandeur, from French commandeur, from Old French comandeor [44]
Cookie 
from koekje, or in informal Dutch koekie [45] (="biscuit", "cookie")
Coney Island 
from Conyne Eylandt (literally "Rabbits' Island")
Crimp 
from krimpen (= "to shrink") [3]
Cruise 
from Dutch kruisen (="to cross, sail to and fro"), from kruis (="cross") [46]
Cruller 
from Dutch krullen (="to curl") [47]

[edit]D

Dam 
from Middle Dutch dam (compare Amsterdam or Rotterdam) [48]
Dapper 
from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German dapper (="bold, strong, sturdy,") [49]
Deck 
from dek (originally "covering") [50]
Decoy 
from de kooi (="the cage," used of a pond surrounded by nets, into which wildfowl were lured for capture) [51]
Delftware 
from Delft, town in Holland where the glazed earthenware was made; the town named from its chief canal, from Dutch delf, (literally "ditch, canal"), which is related to Old English dælf and modern delve[52]
Dike 
from dijk (="embankment") [53]
Dock (maritime) 
from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German docke [54]
Domineer 
from Dutch domineren (="to rule") [55]
Dope 
old meaning "sauce," now "drugs," comes from the Dutch verb (in)dopen (usually ="to baptize," but here ="to dip in") [56]
Dredge 
from Scottish dreg-boat (="boat for dredging") or Middle Dutch dregghe (="drag-net"), one possibly from the other but hard to tell which came first; probably ultimately from root of drag [57]
Drill (verb) 
from Middle Dutch dril, drille and in modern Dutch drillen [58]
Drug 
from Old French drogue, perhaps from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German droge-vate (="dry barrels"), with first element mistaken as word for the contents (see dry goods), or because medicines mostly consisted of dried herbs [59]
Dune 
from Middle Dutch dune, before from Celtic dun (="hill"), in modern Dutch duin

[edit]E

Easel 
from ezel (=originally (and still) "donkey") [60]
Etch 
from ets or etsen [61]
Excise (noun) 
(="tax on goods") from Middle Dutch excijs, apparently altered from accijns (="tax"); English got the word, and the idea for the tax, from Holland [62]

[edit]F

Filibuster 
from Spanish filibustero from French flibustier ultimately from Dutch vrijbuiter (="pirate" or "freebooter") [63]
Flense 
from Danish flense or Dutch vlensen [64]
Foist 
from Dutch vuisten (="take in hand"), from Middle Dutch vuist (="fist") [65]
Forlorn hope 
from verloren hoop (literally "lost troop," figuratively "suicide mission," "cannon fodder") [66]
Freebooter 
from vrijbuiter [67]
Freight 
from vracht [68]
Frolic 
from vrolijk (="cheerful") [69]
Furlough 
from verlof (="permission (to leave)") [70]

[edit]G

Galoot 
(="awkward or boorish man"), originally a sailor's contemptuous word (="raw recruit, green hand") for soldiers or marines, of uncertain origin; "Dictionary of American Slang" proposes galut, Sierra Leone creole form of Spanish galeoto (="galley slave"); perhaps rather Dutch slang kloot (="testicle"),klootzak (="scrotum"), used figuratively as an insult [71]
Gas 
from gas, a neologism from Jan Baptista van Helmont, derived from the Greek chaos [72]
Geek 
from geck (gek) (="fool") [73] [74]
Gherkin 
from Dutch plural of gurk (="cucumber"), shortened form of East Frisian augurk [75]
Gimp (cord or thread) 
from Dutch gimp [76]
Gin 
from jenever [77]
Gnu 
from gnoe (from Bushman !nu) [78]
Golf 
from kolf (="bat, club," but also a game played with these) [3]
Grab 
from grijpen (="to seize, to grasp, to snatch") [79]
Gruff 
from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German grof (="coarse (in quality), thick, large") [80]
Guilder 
from gulden [81]

[edit]H

Hale (verb) 
(="drag, summon"), from Old Frankonian haler (="to pull, haul"), from Frankonian *halon or Old Dutchhalen, both from Proto Germanic [82]
Hankering 
from Middle Dutch hankeren or Dutch hunkeren [83]
Harlem 
called after the city of Haarlem near Amsterdam
Hartebeest 
from both Afrikaans (Hartebees) and Dutch (Hartebeest)[4]
Hoboken 
possibly named after the Flemish town Hoboken, from Middle Dutch Hooghe Buechen or Hoge Beuken (="High Beeches" or "Tall Beeches")
howitzer 
from Dutch houwitzer, which in turn comes from German Haussnitz and later Haubitze.
Hoist 
possibly from Middle Dutch hijsen [84]
Holster 
from holster [85]
Hooky 
from hoekje (=corner) in the sense of "to go around the corner" [86]
Hoyden 
maybe from heiden (=backwoodsman), from Middle Dutch (=heathern) [87]

[edit]I

Iceberg 
probably from Dutch ijsberg (literally ice mountain). [88]
Ietsism
from Dutch ietsisme (literally: somethingism) an unspecified faith in a higher or supernatural power or force
Isinglass 
probably from Dutch huizenblas (No longer used) [89]

[edit]J

[edit]K

Keelhauling 
from kielhalen (literally "to haul keel")[90]
Keeshond 
prob. from special use of Kees (shortening of proper name Cornelius) + hond "dog" [91]
Kill (body of water) 
from kil from Middle Dutch kille (literally "riverbed") [92]
Kink 
from kink referring to a twist in a rope [93]
Knapsack 
possibly from knapzak (literally "bag of snacks") [94]
Knickerbocker 
The pen-name was borrowed from Washington Irving's friend Herman Knickerbacker, and literally means "toy marble-baker." Also descendants of Dutch settler of New York are referred to as Knickerbockers and later became used in reference to a style of pants [95]

[edit]L

Landscape 
from landschap [96]
Leak 
possibly from lekken (="to drip, to leak") [97]
Loafer 
from loper (="walker") [98]
Loiter 
from Middle Dutch loteren [99]
Luck 
from Middle Dutch luc, shortening of gheluc (="happiness, good fortune")('geluk' in modern Dutch)[100]

[edit]M

Maelstrom 
from maalstroom (literally "grinding current" or "stirring current") (possibly Norse in origin) [101]
Manikin 
from Brabantian manneken (literally "little man") [102]
Mannequin 
via French from Dutch (Brabantian) manneken (literally "little man") [103]
Mart 
from Middle Dutch marct (literally "market") (modern Dutch: markt) [104]
Measles 
possibly from Middle Dutch masel "blemish" (modern Dutch: mazelen) [105]
Meerkat 
from both Afrikaans and Dutch meerkat [106] (but the words do not have the same meaning)
Morass 
from moeras (="swamp") [107]

[edit]N

[edit]O

Offal 
possibly from Middle Dutch afval (="leftovers, rubbish") [108]

[edit]P

Patroon
from patroon (="patron") [109]
Pickle 
c.1440, probably from Middle Dutch pekel [110]
Pinkie 
Pinkje/Pinkie [111]
Pit 
the stone of a drupaceous fruit : from pit [112]
Plug 
from plugge, originally a maritime term.[113]
Polder 
from polder
Poppycock 
from pappekak (=dialect for "soft dung") [114]
Pump 
from pomp [115]

[edit]Q

Quack 
shortened from quacksalver, from kwakzalver (literally "someone who daubs ointments") [116]

[edit]R

Roster 
from rooster (="schedule, or grating/grill") [117]
Rover
from rover (="robber") [118]

[edit]S

Santa Claus 
from Middle Dutch Sinterklaas (="Saint Nicholas"), bishop of Asia Minor who became a patron saint for children. (Dutch and Flemish feast celebrated on the 5th and 6th of December respectively) (Origins of Santa Claus in US culture)[119]
Schooner (boat) 
from schoener
Scone 
from schoon (="clean") [120]
Scow 
from schouw (a type of boat) [121]
Shoal 
from Middle Dutch schole (="large number (of fish)") (etymology not sure)
Skate 
from schaats. The noun was originally adopted as in Dutch, with 'skates' being the singular form of the noun; due to the similarity to regular English plurals this form was ultimately used as the plural while 'skate' was derived for use as singular." [122]
Sketch 
from schets [123]
to Scour 
from Middle Dutch scuren (now "schuren") [124]
Skipper 
from Middle Dutch scipper (now schipper, literally "shipper") [125]
Sled, sleigh 
from Middle Dutch slede, slee [126]
Slim 
"thin, slight, slender," from Dutch slim "bad, sly, clever," from Middle Dutch slim "bad, crooked,"[127]
Sloop 
from sloep [128]
Slurp 
from slurpen [129]
Smack (boat) 
possibly from smak "sailboat," perhaps so-called from the sound made by its sails [130]
Smearcase 
from smeerkaas (="cheese that can be spread over bread, cottage-cheese")
Smelt 
from smelten (="to melt") [131]
Smuggler 
from Low German smuggeln or Dutch smokkelen (="to transport (goods) illegally"), apparently a frequentative formation of a word meaning "to sneak" [132]
Snack 
perhaps from Middle Dutch snakken (="to long" (snakken naar lucht="to gasp for air") originally "to eat"/"chatter") [133]
Snoop 
from snoepen (to eat (possibly in secret) something sweet) [134]
Snuff 
from snuiftabak (literally "sniff tobacco") [135]
Splinter 
from splinter [136]
Split 
from Middle Dutch splitten [137]
Spook 
from spook (="ghost(ly image)") [138]
Spoor 
from both Afrikaans and Dutch spoor (="track"/"trail")
Stoker 
from stoken (="stoke a fire") [139]
Stern 
hind part of a ship related to Steven in Dutch and Stiarn in Frisian [140]
Still life 
from Dutch stilleven [141]
Stoop (steps) 
from stoep (="flight of steps, doorstep") [142]
Stockfish 
from Dutch stokvis (= "stick fish")
Stove 
from Middle Dutch stove (="heated room"). The Dutch word stoof, pronounced similarly, is a small (often wooden) box with holes in it. One would place glowing coals inside so it would emanate heat, and then put one's feet on top of it while sitting (in a chair) to keep one's feet warm. [143]
Sutler
from zoetelaar (="one who sweetens", sweetener, old-fashioned for "camp cook") [144]

[edit]T

Tattoo (military term) 
from taptoe (literally "close the tap"). So called because police used to visit taverns in the evening to shut off the taps of casks. [145]
Tickle 
from kietelen [146]
Trigger 
from trekker (Trekken ="to pull") [147]
Tulip 
from tulp [148]

[edit]U

[edit]V

Vang 
from Dutch vangen (=to catch)
Veld 
from Cape Dutch, used in South African English to describe a field

[edit]W

Waffle (noun) 
from Dutch wafel, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German wafel [149]
Walrus 
from walrus [150]
Wagon 
from Dutch wagen, Middle Dutch waghen (= "cart, carriage, wagon") [151]
Wentletrap 
from Dutch wenteltrap: wentelen (= "winding, spiraling") and trap (= "stairway").
Wiggle 
from wiggelen (= "to wobble, to wiggle") or wiegen (= "to rock") [152]
Witloof 
from Belgian Dutch witloof (literally wit "white" + loof "foliage"), Northern Dutch witlof [153]
Wrack 
probably from wrak [154]

[edit]X

[edit]Y

Yacht 
from obsolete Dutch jaght, from Middle Low German jacht, short for jachtschip (literally "hunting ship") [155]
Yankee 
from Jan Kees, a personal name, originally used mockingly to describe pro-French revolutionary citizens, with allusion to the small keeshond dog, then for "colonials" in New Amsterdam (Note: this is not the only possible etymology for the word yankee. For one thing, the Oxford English Dictionary has quotes with the term from as early as 1765, quite some time before the French Revolution.) [156]