Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • A country of north-central Europe. Occupied since c. 500 BC by Germanic tribes, the region became part of the Frankish empire by the sixth century AD. Later it became a loose federation of principalities and the nucleus of the Holy Roman Empire until the imperial state was broken up by Napoleon in 1806. Germany became a confederation after 1815 and then an empire centered around Prussia (1871–1918). Following its defeat in World War I, it was reorganized as the Weimar Republic, which collapsed when Adolf Hitler rose to power and formed the Third Reich. Germany's defeat in 1945 at the end of World War II resulted in its division into four occupation zones, each controlled by an Allied power. Out of the US, French, and British zones West Germany was established in 1949, while the Soviet zone became East Germany. The two Germanies were reunified in 1990 after the fall of the East German Communist government. Berlin is the capital and largest city.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun The country in Central Europe of which Berlin is the current and historical capital city. Current official name: Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland).
  • proper noun countable, historical A German state; any of several German states, such as the German Democratic Republic, Saxony, etc, usually excluding Austria. (in the plural) Several or all of these states, taken together.
  • proper noun countable A or the German state at a particular time.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a republic in central Europe; split into East Germany and West Germany after World War II and reunited in 1990

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin Germania; likely a Gallic term for the peoples west of the Rhine that meant “neighbor”.

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Examples

  • HOMESCHOOLING: VERBOTEN IN GERMANY STILL IN 2009 yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = 'HOMESCHOOLING: VERBOTEN IN GERMANY STILL IN 2009'; yahooBuzzArticleSummary = 'Article: Some Germans have asked for asylum in the USA because Germany still does not permit homeschooling.

    HOMESCHOOLING: VERBOTEN IN GERMANY STILL IN 2009 2009

  • ANGELA MERKEL, CHANCELLOR, GERMANY (through translator): It is by the grace of history that we are standing here today, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and that we can say that the friendship between Germany and France is a gift.

    CNN Transcript Nov 11, 2009 2009

  • Diary Entry by ALONE (about the author) yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = 'GERMANY LIKES TO BUILD WALLS — or Chancellor Merkel,'; yahooBuzzArticleSummary = 'Please, Chancellor Merkel, tear down the wall run by both the foreign ministry and at the various integration offices (Auslands - und Visumbehoerde) in Germany, run by the Interior Ministry.

    OpEdNews - Diary: GERMANY LIKES TO BUILD WALLS���or Chancellor Merkel, 2009

  • FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, ROSTOCK, GERMANY (via broadband): Well, Betty, at this very large anti-G8 protest here in Rostock, Germany, things have sort of calmed down a little bit here on site.

    CNN Transcript Jun 2, 2007 2007

  • ANGELA MERKEL, CHANCELLOR OF GERMANY (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I made it clear that Germany expects all political forces that carry responsibility to accept the preconditions for political activity.

    CNN Transcript Jan 30, 2006 2006

  • GERMANY, in a note to Brussels, guaranteed the inviolability and integrity of Belgium so long as the latter abstained from military action against Germany.

    1937, Oct. 13 2001

  • - GERMANY: Germany likewise said it would send no troops to

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1996

  • GERMANY PRESENTED BY: NANETTE FUNK UNIFICATION OF EAST AND WEST Germany sparked an extensive debate on abortion because the two countries had irreconcilable laws on abortion, the West having the more restrictive of the two legislations.

    Love and Rage Electronic Edition Part 2 1993

  • GERMANY: PARCEL BOMB KILLS ACTIVIST Freiburg, Germany -- On friday, Jan 22, 1993 Kerstin Winter was killed by a parcel bomb in Freiburg.

    Love and Rage Electronic Edition Part 2 1993

  • GUSTAVUS AD.LPHUS IN GERMANY, 1630-1632 A.D. Gustavus entered Germany with a strong force of disciplined soldiers and tried to form alliances with the Protestant princes.

    Early European History Hutton Webster

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