German的词源
英文词源
- german (adj.)
- "of the same parents or grandparents," c. 1300, from Old French germain "own, full; born of the same mother and father; closely related" (12c.), from Latin germanus "full, own (of brothers and sisters); one's own brother; genuine, real, actual, true," related to germen (genitive germinis) "sprout, bud," of uncertain origin; perhaps dissimilated from PIE *gen(e)-men-, from root *gene- "to give birth, beget" (see genus). Your cousin-german (also first cousin) is the son or daughter of an uncle or aunt; your children and your first cousin's are second cousins to one another; to you, your first cousin's children are first cousin once removed.
- German (n.)
- "a native of Germany," 1520s, from Latin Germanus (adjective and noun, plural Germani), first attested in writings of Julius Caesar, who used Germani to designate a group of tribes in northeastern Gaul, of unknown origin. Probably originally the name of an inpidual tribe, but Gaulish (Celtic) origins have been proposed, from words perhaps originally meaning "noisy" (compare Old Irish garim "to shout") or "neighbor" (compare Old Irish gair "neighbor"). Middle English had Germayns (plural, late 14c.), but only in the sense "ancient Teuton, member of the Germanic tribes." The earlier English word was Almain (early 14c.; see Alemanni) or Dutch.
Þe empere passede from þe Grees to þe Frenschemen and to þe Germans, þat beeþ Almayns. [John of Trevisa, translation of Higdon's Polychronicon, 1387]
Their name for themselves, die Deutschen (see Dutch), dates from 12c. Roman writers also used Teutoni as a German tribal name, and writers in Latin after about 875 commonly refer to the German language as teutonicus (see Teutonic). Meaning "the German language" in English is from 1748. High German (1823 in English) and Low German as a pision of dialects is geographical: High German (from 16c. established as the literary language) was the German spoken in the upland regions in southern Germany, Low German (often including Dutch, Frisian, Flemish), also called Plattdeutsch was spoken in the regions near the North Sea. In the U.S. German also was used of descendants of settlers from Germany. - German (adj.)
- "of or pertaining to Germany or the Germans," 1550s, from German (n.). German shepherd as a breed of dog (1922) is short for German shepherd dog (1889), which translates German deutscher Schäferhund. German Ocean as an old name for the North Sea translates Ptolemy. German measles attested by 1856. German-American is from 1880. German Reformed church is from 1812.
中文词源
来自拉丁语Germanus, 最早来自古罗马执政官凯撒的使用。
该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：German 词源，German 含义。
German（德国）：古罗马时期的“日耳曼尼亚”
德国的英语国名German源自古罗马时期古罗马人对日耳曼人所居住地区的称呼“日耳曼尼亚（Germania)。从约公元前4世纪起，大量原本居住在北欧地区、金发碧眼、身材高 大的居民陆陆续续向南进入欧洲大陆。大约在公元前半个世纪时，这些从北欧南下者己经占 据了莱茵河以东、多瑙河以北和北海之间的广大地区。原本占据欧洲大陆的凯尔特人将这些 人称为Germani (日耳曼人)，意思是“邻居”，也有人认为意思是“撕叫者”，因为他们战 斗时会发出可怕的喊叫声。
希腊地理学家“波希多尼”在与中欧某民族接触时，听到了 Germani (日耳曼人）这个 词，并且在公元前80年开始使用它。古罗马的凯撒大帝征伐高卢时，在他的《高卢战记》 中将高卢人对日耳曼人的称呼带入了拉丁语，拼作Germanus，复数为Germani，将日耳曼 人所居住的地区称为Germania (日耳曼尼亚）。该词进入英语后演变为German，成为英国 人对德国的称呼。
实际上，德国人在德语中自称为Deutsche，意为“人民”，称自己的国家为Deutschland (人民之地)，中文音译为“德意志”。
