germane
See also: Germane
English
WOTD – 15 April 2007
Etymology 1
Variant form of german, adapted in this sense in allusions to its use in Shakespeare's Hamlet.
Alternative forms
- germain (obsolete)
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /dʒɜː(ɹ)ˈmeɪn/
- Rhymes: -eɪn
- (US) IPA(key): /d͡ʒɝˈmeɪn/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -eɪn
Adjective
germane (comparative more germane, superlative most germane)
- Related to a topic of discussion or consideration.
- Synonyms: pertinent, relevant, apt, on-topic; see also Thesaurus:pertinent
- 1924, W. D. Ross., translator, Aristotle, Metaphysics. Nashotah, Wisconsin, USA: The Classical Library, 2001, Book 1, Part 5.
- Yet this much is germane to the present inquiry:
- 1997, David Foster Wallace, “Tennis Player Michael Joyce’s Professional Artistry as a Paradigm of Certain Stuff About Choice, Freedom, Limitation, Joy, Grotesquerie, and Human Completeness”, in A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, Kindle edition, Little, Brown Book Group:
- Connors was addicted to this racquet and kept using it even after Wilson stopped making it, forfeiting millions in potential endorsement money by doing so. Connors was eccentric (and kind of repulsive) in lots of other ways, too, none of which are germane to this article.
- 2012 August 5, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “I Love Lisa” (season 4, episode 15; originally aired 02/11/1993)”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):
- Valentine’s Day means different things for different people. For Homer, it means forking over a hundred dollars for a dusty box of chocolates at the Kwik-E-Mart after characteristically forgetting the holiday yet again. For Ned, it’s another opportunity to prove his love for his wife. Most germane to the episode, for Lisa, Valentine’s Day means being the only person in her entire class to give Ralph a Valentine after noticing him looking crestfallen and alone at his desk.
Related terms
- germanely
- germaneness
Translations
Etymology 2
From germ(anium) + -ane.[1]
Noun
germane (plural germanes)
- (inorganic chemistry) germanium tetrahydride, GeH4
- (organic chemistry, especially in combination) Any organic derivative of this compound.
Synonyms
- germanium tetrahydride
- germanomethane
- monogermane
Translations
germanium tetrahydride
|
References
- IUPAC (2014), Henri A. Favre and Warren H. Powell, editors, Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry: IUPAC Recommendations and Preferred Names 2013, Cambdridge: Royal Society of Chemistry, pages 131, 143–144
Anagrams
- Gameren
Esperanto
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Adverb
germane
- in the German language
- Germanly; in the manner of a German
Related terms
- germana (“German”)
- Germanio (“Germany”)
- germano (“a German”)
Italian
Adjective
germane f pl
- feminine plural of germano
Latin
Etymology 1
germānus (“real, sincere”) + -ē (adverb formant)
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ɡerˈmaː.neː/, [ɡɛrˈmäːneː]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /d͡ʒerˈma.ne/, [d͡ʒerˈmäːne]
Adverb
germānē (comparative germānius, superlative germānissimē)
- sincerely
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ɡerˈmaː.ne/, [ɡɛrˈmäːnɛ]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /d͡ʒerˈma.ne/, [d͡ʒerˈmäːne]
Adjective
germāne
- masculine vocative singular of germānus
References
- “germane”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “germane”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- germane in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette