Germanism

American  

[jur-muh-niz-uhm] / ˈdʒɜr məˌnɪz əm /

noun

1. a usage, idiom, or other feature that is characteristic of the German language.

2. a custom, manner, mode of thought, action, etc., that is characteristic of the German people.

3. extreme partiality for or attachment to Germany, Germans, or German customs, manners, etc.

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Germanism British  

/ ˈdʒɜːməˌnɪzəm /

noun

1. a word or idiom borrowed from or modelled on German

2. a German custom, trait, practice, etc

3. attachment to or high regard for German customs, institutions, etc

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Other Word Forms

• anti-Germanism noun
• pro-Germanism noun

Etymology

Origin of Germanism

First recorded in 1605–15; German + -ism

Example Sentences

The story is most memorable in the passages where Germanism is horribly mocked by events, as Plievier evokes those last, insane days when thoroughness turned into madness, tables of organization into the outlines of farce.

From Time Magazine Archive

In a series of Advent sermons that packed St. Michael's Church he condemned the false choice that the Nazis had tried to place before Catholics�the choice between "Germanism" and disloyalty.

From Time Magazine Archive

When the heathen world had outlived its faculties, and its creative power had failed, it sank into the ocean of the past--a sphinx, with her riddle guessed,--and medi�val civilization arose, founded upon Christianity and Germanism.

From The Development of the Feeling for Nature in the Middle Ages and Modern Times by Biese, Alfred

In the significant character, habits and activities of this household may be found the true pith and essence of real Germanism as normally developed.

From Villa Elsa A Story of German Family Life by Henry, Stuart Oliver

Germanism, with its ideal of force, is contrasted with the ideal of Greek and Christian culture and philosophy.

From The Psychology of Nations A Contribution to the Philosophy of History by Partridge, G.E.