German

Less common meanings

5. 5
   tribe (Roman times)nounhistoricalcountable or uncountable

   A member of one of the ancient Germanic tribes.

   Tacitus described the customs of the Germans in his ethnographic writings.

   Arminius, a German raised in Rome, turned against the legions that had trained him.

   SimilarTeuton

   Note

   A historian's word, carried straight over from Latin: Caesar and Tacitus used Germānī for these peoples to set them apart from the Gauls. In writing about antiquity it sits beside Teuton, as in "Rome was sacked by Germans." A reader may hear the modern nationality, though, so Germanic tribes or the tribe's own name is often clearer. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

   • German derives directly from Latin Germānus/Germānī. en.wiktionary.org
   • Caesar used Germani in distinguishing these peoples from the Gauls. la.wikisource.org
   • Tacitus used Germani and distinguished them from the Gauls. la.wikisource.org
   • Teuton is a synonym of German in the historical tribal sense. en.wiktionary.org
   • Germanic people sacked Rome. en.wikipedia.org
6. 6
   winenouncountable or uncountable

   A wine produced in Germany.

   The sommelier recommended a crisp German to pair with the trout.

   He lays down a good German or two each year in his wine cellar.

   Note

   Wine-list English names bottles by where they come from, and this sense belongs with claret and Burgundy. Jim Ainsworth's Passport's Guide to Britain's Best Restaurants (1996) praises "a clutch of fine Germans" alongside mature clarets. The noun is countable: a German, a few fine Germans. In everyday speech, German wine is the safer phrase. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • The quotation is attributed to Jim Ainsworth's Passport's Guide to Britain's Best Restaurants. en.wiktionary.org
   • The quoted passage praises 'a clutch of fine Germans' alongside mature clarets. en.wiktionary.org
7. 7
   carnoundialectalMulticultural London Englishcountable or uncountable

   A car produced in Germany; a "German whip."

   He rolled through the neighborhood in a brand-new German.

   All the rappers in the video were leaning on Germans with the doors open.

   Note

   Multicultural London English shortens "German whip" to the nationality alone, so the car is simply a German. It works like any countable noun and often takes a possessive. Big Tobz, in "Plugged In Freestyle" (2021), uses it with my for his own car, the place where others admire him. Outside this slang it would be heard as a person, so it belongs to casual speech and lyrics.

8. 8
   prison guardnounslangBritishcountable or uncountable

   A prison guard.

   Similarscrew, guard, warder, jailer

   Note

   Prison slang with a grudge in it. Angela Devlin's Prison Patter (1996) counts some 32 terms for prison officers. They run from the affectionate kanga (rhyming slang: kangaroo, screw) to the "mildly confrontational" German, as if the officer were still the wartime enemy. It is British and mildly hostile, not a neutral job title. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • Angela Devlin wrote Prison Patter, published in 1996. watersidepress.co.uk
   • The book counts approximately 32 terms for prison officers. en.wiktionary.org
   • Devlin describes kanga as affectionate and explains it through kangaroo, rhyming slang for screw. en.wiktionary.org
   • Devlin calls German mildly confrontational and interprets it as treating the officer as the wartime enemy. en.wiktionary.org
9. 9
   type sizenoundatedUSuncountable

   A size of type between American and Saxon, equal to one and a half points.

   In the American scale of type names, German stood for a body just one and a half points high.

   Few foundries ever cast German, since type that small strained both caster and reader.

   Note

   A typefounder's name proposed for the American point system, which also numbered its sizes; it sits between American and Saxon in that sequence. At one and a half points it is tiny type, so small that it existed mostly on paper rather than as cast metal. The term is US, dated and rare. It is uncountable, so a text is set in German, and a modern printer would simply say 1½-point. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • German was a proposed type-size name in the American point system, whose sizes also had numerical measurements. columbia.edu
   • German falls between American and Saxon and measures 1½ points. en.wikipedia.org
   • Such extremely small type bodies were essentially theoretical during the metal-type era. en.wikipedia.org