Germanophiliac

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. Someone who has a strong liking for Germany, its people, language and culture, often to the point of favoring it above other nations
2. A person with an intense admiration for German customs, traditions and achievements, sometimes sympathetic to German interests
3. One who is devoted to or strongly drawn toward Germany and everything associated with German life and history

Etymology: Germanophiliac is a hybrid built from "Germano-", the combining form of "German" from Latin "Germanus", and "-philiac", from Greek "philos" meaning "loving", with the "-ac" ending borrowed on the model of "maniac" and "hypochondriac". It is a word of the early twentieth century, and it followed a pattern that English had already used for "Anglophile" and "Francophile". The "-philiac" ending is a deliberate pattern rather than a natural growth, so the word was assembled from parts rather than inherited. Its arrival in English is closely tied to the period when Germany was a political rival and then an enemy. Admirers of German culture, music and scholarship were a recognisable group before 1914, and the word gave them a label, while the opposite, "Germanophobe", was coined alongside it to describe critics. Both terms tended to be used in political argument, with the "-phile" word often carrying a faint suspicion that its user was too sympathetic to a foreign power. The adjective and noun uses are identical in form, so "a Germanophiliac" and "Germanophiliac sentiments" both work in the same way.

Synonyms: germanophile

Antonyms: germanophobe