german
Definitions
Having the same parents, or the same grandparents on one side; closely akin (usually in 'brother-german', 'cousin-german')
嫡亲的，同父母的；（在 brother-german、cousin-german 中）嫡堂/嫡表的
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedFrom Latin germanus, 'of the same parents, genuine' (related to germen 'sprout' and the gen 'birth' family). This rare 'german' means 'born of the same stock' — a brother-german is a full brother, a cousin-german a first cousin. Note: this is unrelated to German the nationality, and is the source of germane ('closely connected, relevant').
Root gen still carries 140 more wordsCommon Collocations
- 1.cousin-german嫡堂/表亲
- 2.brother-german亲兄弟
Example Sentences
- 1.
In legal documents, a 'cousin-german' means a first cousin.
- 2.
They were brothers-german, sharing both parents.
Easily Confused
german (akin, same parents) vs German (of Germany) vs germane (relevant) — the lowercase 'german' here is archaic/legal and means 'closely related by birth.' It is NOT the nationality. germane ('relevant, pertinent') is its descendant: what is germane to a topic is 'akin' to it.