Germany

name

Etymology: From Middle English Germanie, from Old English Germanie & Germania, from Latin Germānia (“land of the Germans”), from Germānī, a people living around and east of the Rhine first attested in the 1st century B.C.E. works of Julius Caesar and of uncertain etymology. The exonym was said by Strabo to derive from germānus (“close kin; genuine”), making it cognate with germane and german, but this seems unsupported. Attempts to derive it from Germanic or Celtic roots since the 18th century are all problematic, although it is perhaps cognate with the Old Irish gair (“neighbour”). Doublet of Germania. In reference to a medieval kingdom, English Germany is usually an anachronism using the Roman name to describe the area or calquing various Latin terms like rex Teutonicorum ("king of the Teutons"), which were often derogatory exonyms rather than formal titles.

1. A nation or civilization occupying the country around the Rhine, Elbe, and upper Danube Rivers in Central Europe, taken as a whole under its various governments.

   “Ancient Germany, excluding from its independent limits the province weſtward of the Rhine, which had ſubmitted to the Roman yoke, extended itſelf over a third part of Europe. Almoſt the whole of modern Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Livonia, Pruſſia, and the greater part of Poland, were peopled by the various tribes of one great nation, whoſe complexion, manners, and language, denoted a common origin and preſerved a ſtriking reſemblance.”

   “While the Germans of Gaul, Italy, and Spain became Romans, the Saxons retained their language, their genius, and manners, and created in Britain a Germany outside of Germany.”

2. A nation or civilization occupying the country around the Rhine, Elbe, and upper Danube Rivers in Central Europe, taken as a whole under its various governments.
3. The principal state in this country, including

   “There had been a long bloody war in the empire of Germany for twelve years, between the Emperor, the Duke of Bavaria, the King of Spain, and the Popiſh Princes and Electors, on the one side; and the Proteſtant Princes on the other; and both ſides having been exhauſted by the war, and even the Catholicks themſelves beginning to diſlike the growing power of the houſe of Auſtria, it was thought that all parties were willing to make peace.”

   “I had frequently been told, that the Bohemians were the moſt muſical people of Germany, or, perhaps, of all Europe...”

4. The principal state in this country, including
5. The principal state in this country, including

   “Severing's belief that trade union workers were the most progressive and democratic element in Germany holds up well under investigation.”

6. The principal state in this country, including
7. The principal state in this country, including

   “The win made Germany the first European team to prevail in a World Cup in the Americas and gave the Germans, who have made it to the knockout stage in 16 consecutive World Cups, their first trophy since 1990.”

   “Germans save a lot, produce plenty and spend little. The result is a massive external surplus. Last year, Germany’s current account surplus stood at almost €200 billion ($260 billion), the world's largest.”

8. The various states in this country either over time or during periods of disunity and division, sometimes (inexact) inclusive of the Holy Roman Empire and Austria-Hungary's other holdings.

   “The differences between England and the Germanies sprang from the absence or presence of ministerial interventions.”

   “In a Renault 14, they drove from one Germany to the other.”

9. A male given name.
10. A surname.
11. A township in Adams County, Pennsylvania, United States.
12. An unincorporated community in Clark County, Indiana, United States.
13. An unincorporated community in Houston County, Texas, United States.