Wanderjahr

[ vahn-duhr-yahr ]

noun

, German.

, plural Wan·der·jah·re [vahn, -d, uh, r, -yah-, r, uh].

1. a year or period of travel, especially following one's schooling and before practicing a profession.
2. (formerly) a year in which an apprentice traveled and improved his skills before settling down to the practice of his trade.

Wanderjahr

/ ˈvandərjaːr /

noun

1. (formerly) a year in which an apprentice travelled to improve his skills

Word History and Origins

Origin of Wanderjahr¹

First recorded in 1890–95; German: literally, “wander year”; wander ( def ), year ( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of Wanderjahr¹

German, literally: wander year

Example Sentences

So she left Demos and set off on a Wanderjahr, to figure out how racism could so often be the answer to an increasingly pressing policy question: Why can’t we have nice things?

From Washington Post

In time, D’Eramo also blotted out other parts of her agonizing Wanderjahr.

From New York Times

“There was always something of the monkish seeker about Steve Jobs, from his days as a part-time student at Reed College in Oregon, through his Wanderjahr in Asia to his pursuit of perfection in the dazzling products he and his colleagues created,” Time wrote.

From Forbes

After passing a 'Wanderjahr' among the Arabs of the desert, as was the custom of scholars at that time, he made his way to Baghdád and soon eclipsed every competitor at the court of Hárún the Orthodox.

From Project Gutenberg

Thus ended a Wanderjahr in which Wolf fled through central Europe to the Soviet Union shortly before unification, then trekked backward because his continued sanctuary in Moscow seemed risky in the aftermath of the failed August coup.

From Time Magazine Archive