German Loanwords in The English Language
For a list of German loanwords to English, see Category:German loanwords.English has taken many loanwords from German, often without any change of spelling:
| German word | English loanword | Meaning of German word |
|---|---|---|
| abseilen | abseil | to descend by rope / to fastrope |
| Angst | angst | fear |
| Ansatz | ansatz | onset / entry / math. approach |
| Anschluss | anschluss | connection / access / annexation |
| Automat | automat | automation / machine |
| Bildungsroman | bildungsroman | novel concerned with the personal development or education of the protagonist |
| Blitz | Blitz | flash / lightning |
| Bratwurst | bratwurst | fried sausage |
| Delikatessen | delikatessen/delicatessen | delicate / delicious food items |
| Doppelgänger | doppelgänger | lit. "double going/living person alive", look-alike of somebody |
| Edelweiß | edelweiss | edelweiss flower |
| Fest | fest | feast / celebration |
| Gedankenexperiment | Gedankenexperiment | thought experiment |
| Geländesprung | gelandesprung | ski jumping for distance on alpine equipment |
| Gemütlichkeit | gemuetlichkeit | snug feeling, cosiness, good nature, geniality |
| Gestalt | Gestalt | form or shape / creature / scheme; refers to a concept of 'wholeness' |
| Gesundheit! | Gesundheit! (Amer.) | health / bless you! (when someone sneezes) |
| Heiligenschein | heiligenschein | meteo. "holy shine" / halo |
| Hinterland | hinterland | lit. mil. "area behind the front-line": interior / backwoods |
| kaputt | kaput | out of order, not working (from French, être capot "to have made no tricks in card games", lit. "to be hoodwinked") |
| Katzenjammer | katzenjammer | lit. "cats' lament": hangover, crapulence |
| Kindergarten | kindergarten | lit. "children's garden" - nursery or preschool |
| Kitsch | kitsch | fake art, something produced exclusively for sale |
| Kraut | kraut | herb, cabbage in some dialects |
| Leitmotiv | leitmotif | guiding theme (the verb "leiten" means "to guide, to lead") |
| plündern (v.) | to plunder | lit. "taking goods by force" (original meaning "to take away furniture" shifted in German and was borrowed by English both during the Thirty Years War) |
| Poltergeist | poltergeist | lit. "rumbling ghost" (artificial compound, not originally German) |
| Realpolitik | realpolitik | diplomacy based on practical objectives rather than ideals |
| Reich | reich | empire or realm |
| Rucksack | rucksack | backpack (Ruck→"Rücken" which means "back") |
| Sauerkraut | sauerkraut | shredded and salted cabbage fermented in its own juice |
| Schadenfreude | schadenfreude | taking pleasure in someone else's misfortune |
| Sprachraum | sprachraum | lit. "place/area/room of a language": area where a certain language is spoken |
| Übermensch | ubermensch | superhuman |
| verklemmt | verklemmt | lit. "jammed": inhibited, uptight |
| Waldsterben | waldsterben | lit. "forest dieback", dying floral environment |
| Wanderlust | wanderlust | desire, pleasure, or inclination to travel or walk |
| Weltanschauung | weltanschauung | lit. "perception of the world": ideology |
| Wunderkind | wunderkind | lit. "wonder child": child prodigy, whiz kid |
| Zeitgeist | zeitgeist | lit. "spirit of the times": the spirit of the age; the trend at that time |
| Zugzwang | Zugzwang | chess term lit. "compulsion to move" |
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