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)

1. 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)‎^[1]:

     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

related to the topic being discussed

• Bulgarian: уместен (bg) (umesten)
• Catalan: pertinent
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 有關／有关 (zh) (yǒuguān), 有關係／有关系 (zh) (yǒuguānxi)

• Czech: k věci, podstatný (cs), relevantní (cs), významný (cs), závažný (cs)
• Danish: relevant, relevante pl
• Dutch: relevant (nl), ter zake, van toepassing
• Estonian: kohane, sobiv
• Finnish: asiaankuuluva, relevantti (fi), olennainen (fi)
• French: pertinent (fr)
• Georgian: სათანადო (satanado), შესაფერისი (šesaperisi), შესაბამისი (šesabamisi), რელევანტური (relevanṭuri)
• German: relevant (de)
• Irish: ábhartha
• Persian: مربوط (fa) (marbut)
• Polish: istotny (pl), relewantny (pl)
• Portuguese: pertinente (pt), relevante (pt)
• Russian: уме́стный (ru) (uméstnyj), подходя́щий (ru) (podxodjáščij), соотве́тствующий (ru) (sootvétstvujuščij), релева́нтный (ru) (relevántnyj), относя́щийся к те́ме (otnosjáščijsja k téme)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: релева̀нтан, сро̏дан, по̀ве̄за̄н

  Roman: relevàntan (sh), srȍdan (sh), pòvēzān (sh)

• Slovak: súvisiaci (sk), relevantný (sk)
• Spanish: relacionado (es)

Etymology 2

From germ(anium) +‎ -ane.

Noun

germane (plural germanes)

1. (inorganic chemistry) germanium tetrahydride, GeH₄
3. (organic chemistry, especially in combination) Any organic derivative of this compound.

Synonyms

• germanium tetrahydride
• germanomethane
• monogermane

Translations

germanium tetrahydride

• Catalan: germà (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 甲鍺烷／甲锗烷 (jiǎzhěwán)

• Dutch: germaan n
• Finnish: germaniumtetrahydridi
• French: germane (fr) m
• Georgian: გერმანიუმის ტეტრაჰიდრიდი (germaniumis ṭeṭrahidridi)
• German: Monogerman
• Italian: germano (it) m
• Portuguese: germano (pt) m
• Russian: тетрагидри́д герма́ния m (tetragidríd germánija)
• Spanish: germano (es) m

Anagrams

• Gameren

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adverb

germane

1. in the German language
2. Germanly; in the manner of a German

Related terms

• germana (“German”)
• Germanio (“Germany”)
• germano (“a German”)

 

Italian

Adjective

germane f pl

1. feminine plural of germano

Latin

Etymology 1

germānus (“real, sincere”) +‎ -ē (adverb formant)

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ɡerˈmaː.neː/, [ɡɛrˈmäːneː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒerˈma.ne/, [d͡ʒerˈmäːne]

Adverb

germānē (comparative germānius, superlative germānissimē)

1. sincerely

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ɡerˈmaː.ne/, [ɡɛrˈmäːnɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒerˈma.ne/, [d͡ʒerˈmäːne]

Adjective

germāne

1. 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.