Deutsch

Part of speech: adjective, noun

Definitions

1. Relating to the German language; pertaining to Germany or its people; characteristic of German culture
2. Connected with the language spoken in Germany; associated with the nation of Germany and its inhabitants; descriptive of traditions common to Germany
3. Concerning the tongue of Germany; linked to the country and the German populace; typical of practices or attributes found in Germany

Etymology: The English "German" and the word "deutsch" are close cousins, yet English took its word for the Germans from Latin, not from the Germans' own name for themselves. "Deutsch" traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root "tewtéh₂", meaning "people" or "tribe", and in Old High German it described the common folk and their everyday speech, set apart from Latin, the language of the Church and learning. English "German", by contrast, comes from Latin "Germanus", a name the Romans applied to the tribes beyond the Rhine. The two forms are doublets, sharing an ancestor but arriving in English by different routes. "Deutsch" entered English as a borrowing from the German language itself, which is why it is the word used for the language, culture and customs, and it keeps the older sense of "of the people" that the Romans' term lost. Dutch and Doitsu, the Japanese word for Germany, descend from the same root.

Synonyms: German