Hohenstaufen
English
Etymology
Borrowed from German Hohenstaufen, from hohen (“high”) + Staufen (from Staufer), first used to distinguish a hill called Staufer in the Swabian Jura from the village of the same name in the valley below. (See 
Hohenstaufen § Name on Wikipedia.Wikipedia ).
Proper noun
Hohenstaufen
- (historical) A mediaeval (11th—14th centuries) German dynasty of Swabian origin, from which came numerous monarchs, including dukes of Swabia and emperors of the Holy Roman Empire.
- 1889, Ugo Balzani, The Popes and the Hohenstaufen, Longmans, Green, and Co.
- 1970, Patience Andrewes, Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, Oxford University Press.
Usage notes
Members of the family did not refer to themselves as Hohenstaufen, instead occasionally using variations of the toponymic surname de Stauf. It was not until the 13th century that the name came to be applied to the family as a whole.
Translations
mediaeval dynasty originating in Swabia
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