Now updated for CSW19. New words, if any, and new inflections of existing words, are shown in red.
| abitur | in Germany, the final-year school examinations. |
| ablaut | vowel change in related words, esp. that in Indo-European, which survives in English in, e.g., sing, sang, sung, song. |
| abseil | to descend a rock face using a double rope, to rappel. |
| affenpinscher | a kind of dark, wiry, shaggy dog with a tufted muzzle. |
| albumblatt | a short occasional instrumental composition |
| alpenhorn alphorn | a long powerful horn made of wood, used by Alpine cowherds. |
| alpenstock | a long staff, pointed with iron, used in climbing the Alps. |
| althorn | an instrument of the saxhorn family, used exclusively in military music, often replacing the French horn. |
| amelcorn | a variety of wheat from which starch is produced. |
| amtman amman | in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Scandinavia, a district magistrate. |
| angst | a state of morbid fear or anxiety, common among Scrabble players drawing their opening rack. |
| anlage | the first discernible rudiment of an organ > ANLAGES or ANLAGEN. |
| ansatz | a possible solution to a problem. |
| apfelstrudel | apple strudel. |
| aufgabe | a task set as an experiment etc > AUFGABES (though the proper German plural would be AUFGABEN*). |
| augend | a number to which another number is added. [Ger. from L. augere, to increase]. |
| aurochs | an extinct wild ox. |
| ausform | to deform, quench, and temper a metal. |
| auslander | a foreigner. |
| autobahn | motorway > AUTOBAHNEN or AUTOBAHNS. |
| bacharach | a wine from Bacharach, on the Rhine. |
| backfisch | a young girl, a flapper. |
| bebung | a tremolo effect produced on the clavichord. |
| bergenia | any of various perennial plants of the genus Bergenia, of the saxifrage family. [From K. A. von Bergen (1704—60), Ger. physician & botanist]. |
| bergfall | a fall of mountain rock. |
| bergmehl | a powdery deposit of diatom frustules. [Ger. = 'mountain flour']. |
| bergschrund | a crevasse formed where a glacier or snowfield moves away from a mountain wall. |
| berlin berline | a four-wheeled covered carriage. [Named after the city]. |
| bierkeller | a beer cellar. |
| bierwurst | a kind of sausage. |
| bildungsroman | a psychological novel dealing with the early moral development of the protagonist. [Ger. bildung, formation, + roman, novel]. |
| bilharzia | a disease caused by infection with blood flukes of the genus Schistosoma. [From Theodor Bilharz (1825—62), Ger. physician]. |
| bitte | please. |
| blende | a zinc sulphide, often containing some iron. |
| blitz | to attack or damage (as if) by an air raid; to deal with or complete by a burst of intense activity. [G. blitz, lightning]. |
| blitzkrieg | a rapid advance in warfare. [G. blitz, lightning, + krieg, war]. |
| blucher | a leather half-boot. [From L. von Blücher (1742-1819), Prussian general]. |
| blutwurst | a kind of German sausage. |
| boehmite | a mineral present in BAUXITE. [From Johann Böhm (1895—1952), Ger. chemist]. |
| bratwurst | a type of German sausage. |
| bremsstrahlung | electromagnetic radiation given off when an electron collides with a positive nucleus. |
| bummel | a stroll; a leisurely journey. |
| burgrave | the commander of a German town or castle. |
| capellmeister kapellmeister | a choir or orchestra leader. |
| carabiner karabiner | a steel link with a clip on side used in mountaineering. |
| centner | an old unit of weight equal to about 110 pounds. |
| clavier klavier | the keyboard of a musical instrument. |
| coburg | a thin single-twilled worsted fabric with cotton or silk; a kind of loaf. [From Coburg in Germany]. |
| creutzer kreutzer kreuzer | a small copper coin formerly used in South Germany; also, a small Austrian copper coin. |
| crimmer krimmer | tightly curled grey or black fur from a Crimean lamb. |
| dachshund | a breed of dog. [G. Dachs, badger, + Hund, dog]. |
| diktat | a harsh settlement forced on the defeated or powerless. |
| dirndl | an Alpine peasant woman's dress. |
| docent | a college or university teacher or lecturer; a person who leads guided tours esp. through a museum or art gallery. |
| doppelganger | a ghostly counterpart of a living person. |
| dreikanter | a three-faced pebble worn by wind. [Ger. Drei, three, + Kante, angle]. |
| druse | a rock cavity lined with crystals. [Ger. Druse, from Czech druza a piece of crystallized ore]. |
| dummkopf | a stupid person. |
| durchkomponiert durchkomponirt | having the music especially adapted to each stanza. |
| echt | genuine, authentic. |
| edelweiss | a white Alpine flower of the composite family. [G. edel, noble + weiss, white]. |
| eigenmode | a normal mode of vibration of an oscillating system. |
| eigentone | a tone characteristic of a particular vibrating system. |
| einkorn | a variety of wheat. |
| eiswein | a sweet German wine made from grapes that have frozen on the vine. |
| emmer | a primitive strain of wheat. |
| enzian | a type of SCHNAPPS flavoured with gentian roots, drunk in the Tyrol. |
| erlking | a spirit that does mischief or evil, esp. to children. [Ger. Erlkonig, alder-king]. |
| ersatz | a substitute; a supplementary reserve. |
| fahlband | in crystalline rocks, a stratum rich in metals. |
| fahlerz fahlore | any grey copper ore of the system whose typical forms are TETRAHEDRITE and TENNANTITE. |
| fehm vehm | a mediaeval German court > FEHME, VEHME. |
| feldgrau | field-grey, the colour of German military uniforms. |
| festschrift | a volume of writing by different authors presented as a tribute or memorial esp. to a scholar. |
| fidibus | a paper spill for lighting a pipe etc. |
| firn | granular ice formed by the recrystallization of snow. [Ger. firn, of last year]. |
| flaser | an irregular streaky lenticular structure developed in metamorphic rocks. [G, dial. form of Flader streak, vein]. |
| flugel | a grand piano or a harpsichord, both being wing-shaped. |
| flugelhorn | a bugle with valves. |
| flugelman fugleman | a leader (esp. political); the lead soldier for a company. |
| flysch | a thinly-bedded sedimentary deposit consisting of shales and marls alternating with coarser strata such as sandstones and conglomerates. |
| foehn fohn | a hot dry wind that blows down Alpine valleys. |
| formant | a component of a speech sound determining its particular quality. |
| fractur fraktur | a German style of black letter, the normal type used for printing German from the 16th to the mid 20th cent. |
| frankfurt frankfurter frankfort | a small smoked sausage. |
| frau | woman, housewife. |
| fraulein | miss. |
| fuehrer fuhrer | a leader. |
| fundie fundy | a member of the radical wing of the German Green party. |
| funkia | any plant of an Asiatic genus allied to the day-lilies, now called HOSTA. [From a German botanist]. |
| gasthaus | a small German hotel > GASTHAUSER or GASTHAUSES. |
| gau | a German political district. |
| gauleiter | an overbearing wielder of petty authority. |
| gauss | a unit of magnetic flux density equal to 1/10000 TESLA. [From K. F. Gauss (1777—1855) Ger. mathematician]. |
| gegenschein | a soft light in sky opposite sun. |
| geist | spirit; intellectual inclination. |
| gelande | as in gelande jump, a jump made in downhill skiing |
| gemeinschaft | a spontaneous social relationship characterized by strong reciprocal bonds of sentiment and kinship within a common tradition. |
| gemshorn | a chamois horn; an early wind instrument. |
| gemutlich | agreeably pleasant: comfortable. |
| gemutlichkeit | the quality of being GEMUTLICH; geniality; cosiness. |
| gesellschaft | a rationally developed mechanistic type of social relationship characterized by impersonally contracted associations between persons. |
| gestalt | a form, shape, pattern, organized whole > GESTALTS or GESTALTEN. |
| gestapo | any secret police organization > GESTAPOS. |
| gesundheit | your health (said to someone who has just sneezed). |
| gewurztraminer | a variety of Traminer grape grown esp. in the Rhine valley, Alsace, and Austria; the mildly spicy white wine made from this grape. |
| gibel | a kind of carp, aka Crucian carp. [Ger. Giebel, earlier Gibel.] |
| glockenspiel | a musical instrument, a set of bells. [G. Glocken, bells, + Spiel, play]. |
| gluhwein | a hot sweetened spiced red wine, as prepared in Germany. |
| gneiss | a foliated usu. coarse-grained metamorphic rock typically consisting of feldspar, quartz, and mica. |
| graben | a rift valley. |
| graupel | precipitation consisting of granular snow pellets. [Ger. graupeln, to sleet]. |
| greisen | a rock composed of quartz and mica. |
| groschen | a small German monetary unit. |
| haff | a lagoon separated from sea by a long sand-bar. [Ger. Haff, bay]. |
| hamburg hamburger | a patty of ground beef. |
| hasenpfeffer | a well seasoned rabbit stew. [G. Hase, hare, + Pfeffer, pepper]. |
| hausen | a large sturgeon from the region of the Black Sea, aka BELUGA. |
| hausfrau | housewife > HAUSFRAUS or HAUSFRAUEN. |
| heil | interjection: hail!; (verb) to salute. |
| heimish | homelike. |
| heldentenor | a tenor with striking dramatic quality suitable for heroic roles. [G. Held, hero]. |
| herrenvolk | a master race. |
| hexerei | witchcraft. |
| holstein | a breed of cattle. [From Holstein, a region in N. Germany]. |
| homburg | a man's felt hat. [From Homburg, a town near Wiesbaden, western Germany.] |
| hornfels | a compact type of rock composed of lime silicates. |
| horst horste | a mass of the earth's crust that lies between two faults and is higher than the surrounding land. [From MHG hurst, thicket]. |
| howitzer | a short relatively light gun for the high-angle firing of shells at a low velocity. [Ger. Haubitze, from Czech houfnice, a sling]. |
| humpen | a type of enamelled or painted glass drinking vessel made in Germany. |
| huso | the great sturgeon > HUSOS. [OHG huso]. |
| inselberg | a steep-sided round-topped mount, usu. of granite or gneiss, rising above the general level of plain eroded bedrock > INSELBERGE or INSELBERGS. [Ger. 'island mountain']. |
| jaeger jager yager | a huntsman. |
| jagdwurst | a kind of sausage. |
| junker | a young German noble or squire; esp., a member of the aristocratic party in Prussia. |
| junkerdom | the office of junker. |
| kaffeeklatsch | an informal social gathering for coffee and talk. |
| kaiser | an emperor. |
| kaiserin | the wife of a kaiser. |
| kamerad | to surrender. |
| kaput kaputt | finished, done for. |
| karst | a landscape composed of limestone features including sinkholes, caves, and underground streams. |
| katzenjammer | a hangover; distress; clamor; uproar. [Ger. Katze, cat + Jammer, distress, wailing]. |
| kegeler kegler | a bowler. [Ger. Kegel, skittle]. |
| kieselguhr kieselgur | siliceous earth; specifically, porous infusorial earth, used as an absorbent of nitroglycerin in the manufacture of dynamite. |
| kinchin | (thieves's slang) a child. [Ger. Kindchen]. |
| kindergarten | a nursery school. |
| kinderspiel | a children's cantata or play. |
| kirsch kirschwasser | an alcoholic spirit distilled, chiefly in Germany and Switzerland, from the fermented juice of cherries. |
| kitsch | trash; sentimental popular art. |
| klang | a complex tone, composed of fundamental and harmonics. |
| klangfarbe | tone-colour; timbre. |
| klatch klatsch | in N. America, a coffee party or other social function. |
| knackwurst knockwurst | a kind of highly seasoned sausage. |
| knawel | a cornfield weed of the chickweed family. [Ger. Knauel]. |
| knosp | an ornament in the form of a bud. [Ger. Knospe, bud]. |
| kobold | a mischievous elf in German folklore, found esp. in mines. |
| kohlrabi | a variety of cabbage > KOHLRABIES or KOHLRABIS. |
| kraft | a type of strong brown wrapping paper. |
| kriegspiel kriegsspiel | a game in which miniature characters and blocks represent armies, ships, etc. as they move around on a drawing of a battlefield, used to simulate war; a form of chess where players see only their own pieces. |
| krumhorn krummhorn | an ancient double-reed wind instrument. Aka CRUMHORN, CROMORNA, CROMORNE, CREMONA. |
| krummholz | stunted forest typical of the timberline. |
| kuchen | a yeast-raised coffee cake > KUCHEN. |
| kultur | culture, civilisation. |
| kummel | a cumin-flavoured liqueur. |
| kursaal | a public hall or room, for the use of visitors at watering places and health resorts in Germany. |
| lammergeier lammergeyer | a large European bird of prey, aka bearded vulture. |
| landau | a horse-drawn carriage with folding top. |
| landgrave | a German nobleman of a rank corresponding to that of an earl in England and of a count in France. |
| landler | a S. German dance, like a slow waltz (the a has an umlaut). |
| landsknecht lanzknecht | a mercenary foot-soldier of the 16th century. |
| langlauf | cross-country skiing or running. |
| lauf | a run in a bobsleigh contest. |
| lauwine lawine | an avalanche. |
| lebensraum | additional territory deemed necessary to a nation, especially Nazi Germany, for its continued existence or economic well-being; generally, adequate space in which to live, develop, or function. |
| lebkuchen | a biscuit containing honey and spices > LEBKUCHEN. |
| lederhosen | short leather trousers with braces. |
| lehrjahre | an apprenticeship. |
| leitmotif leitmotiv | a leading motif: a recurring theme in a novel, musical signature for something. |
| lied | a song > LIEDER. |
| loden | a thick waterproof woollen cloth. |
| loess | fine-grained wind deposit of clay, sand, and silt. |
| luger | a German make of gun. |
| lumpen | relating to dispossessed people who have been cut off from the social and economic class to which they would normally belong; (someone) belonging to the underclass. [G. Lumpenproletariat (the lowest section of the proletariat), from Lumpen, rag]. |
| maar | a volcanic crater without a cone, usually filled by a lake. |
| machtpolitik | power politics. |
| marchen | a story or fable, a folk-tale > MARCHEN. |
| margrave | originally, a lord or keeper of the borders or marches in Germany. [Ger. MARKGRAF]. |
| meerschaum | hydrated magnesium silicate occurring as a soft white or yellowish claylike mineral; aka SEPIOLITE. [G. Meer, sea, + Schaum, foam]. |
| meister | an expert in a particular activity. |
| minnesinger | a troubadour-like poet of medieval Germany. |
| mispickel | arsenical iron pyrites; aka ARSENOPYRITE. |
| mordent | a rapidly alternating a tone with one half-tone lower; a reverse trill. [Ger. fr. Ital. mordente]. |
| muesli | a dish of rolled oats, nuts etc. eaten as a breakfast cereal. |
| nazi | a type of fascist. [Ger. short form of Nationalsozialist, National Socialist]. |
| neanderthal | an unenlightened or uncouth man. [From Neander valley in western Germany near Düsseldorf, where bones of a Neanderthal man were first discovered in 1856]. |
| nebenkern | a two-stranded helical structure of the proximal tail region of a spermatozoon. |
| neuston | minute organisms floating or swimming on water's surface. Cf. SESTON. |
| oflag | a German prison camp for officers. |
| olm | a blind, cave-dwelling, eel-like salamander of Europe. [Ger. Olm]. |
| oma | grandmother. |
| opa | a grandfather. |
| orfe | a kind of carp. |
| osnaburg | a coarse linen or cotton. [Alt. of Osnabrück, a town in northern Germany]. |
| ostmark | the standard monetary unit of the DDR, prior to reunification. |
| panzer | a German tank. |
| patzer potzer | an inept chess player. [Ger. Patzer, a blunderer]. |
| penke | a minnow. [Ger. Pinke]. |
| pennal | a freshman at a German university. [L. pennale, pen-case]. |
| pfennig pfenning | a small copper coin of Germany, the hundredth part of a mark > PFENNIGE or PFENNIGS; PFENNINGS. |
| pickelhaube | the spiked helmet worn by German or Prussian soldiers before World War I. |
| pilsener pilsner | a light-coloured flavoursome variety of lager. |
| pinscher | a breed of large dog. |
| pluton | a mass of rock solidified under earth's surface. [Back-formation from German plutonisch]. |
| poltergeist | a spirit believed to manifest itself by making noises and moving physical objects. |
| pokal | a tall drinking cup. |
| posaune | the trombone. |
| pretzel | a crisp salted biscuit made in a rope shape. |
| prusik | a type of rope sling used in climbing; (verb) to climb by using such a sling. [From Karl Prusik, Austrian mountaineer who devised the method]. |
| pumpernickel | a kind of rye bread. |
| putsch | a sudden revolutionary outbreak. [Swiss German: thrust, blow]. |
| quersprung | in skiing, a jump-turn at right angles. |
| quetsch | a spirit distilled from the fermented juice of plums. [Ger. dialect Quetsch, wild plum]. |
| rackett | an old wind instrument of the double bassoon kind, having ventages but not keys. [Ger. Rackett, Rankett]. |
| rappen | a monetary unit of Switzerland. No —S. [Ger. 'raven']. |
| raschel | a type of light loosely knitted cloth. [Ger. Raschelmaschine, a kind of knitting-machine]. |
| rathskeller | a usually basement tavern or restaurant. [Ger. Rat, council, + Keller, cellar]. |
| realo | a member of the less radical section of the German Green party. |
| realpolitik | politics based on practical, rather than moral or ideological, considerations; practical politics. |
| realpolitiker | one who practises REALPOLITIK. |
| reichsmark | a German unit of currency. |
| reiter | a German cavalry soldier. |
| riesling | a type of grape grown esp. in Germany. |
| rinderpest | an infectious disease of ruminants, esp. oxen. |
| ritter | a German or Austrian knight or mounted warrior; a member of the German or Austrian minor nobility. |
| rontgen roentgen | the international unit of dose of X-rays. [From German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (1845—1923), discoverer of the röntgen rays or X-rays]. |
| rottweiler | a large powerful breed of dog. [From Rottweil a town in SW Germany]. |
| rucksack | a pack for carrying on the back. |
| saibling | a European mountain trout, aka TORGOCH. |
| salband | a crust or coating of mineral. |
| sapsago | a hard green Swiss cheese. [Ger. schabziger, 'scrape-cheese']. |
| sarin | a compound of phosphorus used as a lethal nerve gas. |
| sauerbraten | a dish of German origin consisting of beef marinaded in vinegar with peppercorns, onions, and other seasonings and then cooked. [Ger. 'sour roast meat']. |
| sauerkraut | cabbage cut fine and allowed to ferment in a brine made of its own juice with salt. |
| schadenfreude | enjoyment gained from others' troubles. |
| schalstein | a slaty diabase tuff. [G. Schale skin, shell + Stein stone]. |
| schappe | a fabric of waste silk, with gum etc. partially removed by fermentation; (verb) to subject to this. |
| schiller | a phenomenon whereby a metallic-like shimmering is seen just below the surface when the so-characterized material is viewed from certain directions under reflected light; play of color. |
| schimmel | a roan horse. |
| schlager | a duelling sword used in some German universities. |
| schlich | the finer portion of a crushed ore, as of gold, lead, or tin, separated by the water in certain wet processes. |
| schliere | one of a set of visible streaks of different density in a fluid, or streaks of different color or composition in igneous rock > SCHLIEREN. |
| schloss | a castle, palace, manor-house. |
| schmelz schmelze | a kind of glass of a red or ruby color, made in Bohemia. |
| schnapps schnaps shnaps shnapps | a kind of brandy. |
| schnauzer | a German breed of wire-haired terrier. |
| schnecke | a sweet bread roll, containing nuts and flavoured with cinnamon > SCHNECKEN. |
| schnell | quick. |
| schnitzel | a thin veal cutlet fried in butter. |
| schnorkel snorkel | to swim underwater using a breathing-tube. |
| schorl shorl | tourmaline, esp. black tourmaline. |
| schottische | an old polka-like round dance. |
| schrecklich | horrible. |
| schuss | in skiing, a straight slope on which it is possible to make a fast run; to make such a run. |
| schusser | one who makes SCHUSSES, fast runs on a straight skiing slope. |
| schwa shwa | a vowel sound, like "a" in alone or "e" in linen, that in English often appears unstressed. |
| schwarmerei | excessive or unwholesome sentiment. |
| schwarzlot | a type of black enamel decoration on glass, porcelain etc. |
| seidel | a large glass for beer. |
| sekt | a sparkling wine. |
| seltzer | naturally effervescent mineral water; artificially carbonated water. [Ger. Selterser (literally, from Selters), after Selters, a village near Wiesbaden in Germany where such springs were discovered.] |
| seston | (the living organisms present in) fine particulate matter suspended in water. Cf. NEUSTON. |
| shabrack shabracque | a trooper's housing or saddle-cloth. |
| singspiel | a semi-dramatic play in dialogue and song. |
| sitzkrieg | (virtual) stalemate in warfare. |
| sitzmark | a depression left in snow after a skier has fallen backwards. |
| smearcase smiercase | cottage cheese. |
| sontag | a woman's knitted cape, tied round the waist. [From the German singer Henriette Sontag, 1806 - 1854]. |
| spaetzle spatzle | (in Jewish cooking) a small dumpling. |
| spatlese | a sweet white wine made from grapes harvested after the main vintage. > SPATLESES or SPATLESEN. |
| speise speiss | a mixture of impure arsenides and antimonides of nickel, cobalt, iron, etc., produced in the smelting of esp. cobalt ores. |
| spiegel spiegeleisen | an iron alloy used in the Bessemer process. [Ger. Spiegel, mirror]. |
| spitz | a Pomeranian dog. |
| sprachgefuhl | sensibility to conformance with or divergence from the established usage of a language; a feeling for what is linguistically effective or appropriate. |
| sprechgesang | a style of vocal delivery introduced by Schoenberg. |
| sprechstimme | music using the SPRECHGESANG form of vocalization. |
| spritz | to spray (liquid). |
| spritzer | a drink of (white) wine and soda water. |
| spritzig | sparkling (of wine); (noun) a usu. sparkling white wine. |
| stalag | a German camp for prisoners of war. |
| steinbock steinbok | the Alpine ibex. Aka STEMBUCK, STEENBOK. |
| stempel | a cross-timber in a shaft. [Ger. STEMPEL]. Also STEMPLE. |
| stockwork | a mass of veins, impregnations, etc of ore that can be worked as one deposit. [Ger. Stockwerk]. |
| stollen | a rich sweet German bread made with raisins etc. and coated with icing sugar. [Ger. Stollen, prop, strut, from the shape]. |
| strafe straff | to rake with machine-gun fire from low-flying aircraft. [Ger. strafen, to punish]. |
| strass | a paste for making false gems. [From Josef Strasser (fl. 18th cent.), the inventor.] |
| streusel | a crumb-like cake or pie topping: flour, sugar, butter, and nuts. [Ger. streuen, to sprinkle]. |
| strudel | a very thin pastry enclosing fruit, cheese etc. [Ger. Strudel, eddy, whirlpool]. |
| stummel | a bowl and adjacent part of a pipe. |
| sylvaner | a German grape used in making white wine. |
| tabun | an organic phosphorus compound, which can be used as a nerve gas. |
| taler thaler | an obsolete German silver coin. |
| talweg thalweg | a line following the lowest point of a valley; the middle of a navigable waterway used as boundary line. [Ger. thal (valley) + weg (way)]. |
| taube | a German monoplane with recurved wings. |
| teckel | a dachshund. |
| tendenz | tendency, esp. in musical composition > TENDENZEN. |
| torte | a rich cake made of many eggs, little flour, and usually containing nuts > TORTEN or TORTES. |
| trocken | of wine, dry. |
| trommel | a revolving sieve for cleaning or sizing minerals. [Ger. Trommel, drum]. |
| tusche | a black substance used for drawing in lithography and as a resist in etching and silk-screen work. |
| uhlan ulan | a light cavalryman in semi-oriental uniform; a Prussian lancer. |
| umlaut | (verb) to place an umlaut over. |
| umwelt | environmental factors collectively |
| unberufen | an exclamation to avert ill luck following boasting. |
| urtext | the original or earliest version of a text, such as a musical composition or literary work. |
| verboten | forbidden. |
| volkslied | a popular song, or national air > VOLKSLIEDER. |
| vorlage | the position of a skier leaning forward from the ankles, usually without lifting the heels from the skis. |
| wacke | an old name for a decomposed basalt. [Ger, from OHGer wagge, a pebble]. |
| waldflute | an organ flute stop of 4 feet in length. |
| waldgrave wildgrave | a former German title of count; a head forest ranger. |
| waldgravine | the wife of a WALDGRAVE. |
| waldhorn | a French valveless hunting horn. |
| waldrapp | the hermit ibis of N. Africa and the Middle East. [Ger. 'wood-crow']. |
| waldsterben | disease and death in forest trees and vegetation as a result of atmospheric pollution. |
| wanderlust | an urge to travel from place to place. |
| wasserman | a man-shaped sea monster > WASSERMEN. |
| wedel wedeln | to ski in a swiveling motion with skis close together. |
| weimaraner | a breed of grey short-haired gun dogs. |
| weiner wiener | a frankfurter, a small smoked beef or pork sausage. |
| wels | a large fish, the American giant catfish, introduced into European rivers, aka sheatfish. |
| weltanschauung | a comprehensive conception or apprehension of the world, esp. from a specific standpoint: world-view > WELTANSCHAUUNGS. |
| weltschmerz | mental depression or apathy caused by comparison of the actual state of the world with an ideal state; a mood of sentimental sadness. |
| wienerwurst | a kind of sausage. |
| wisent | the European bison. |
| wolfram | an alternative name for TUNGSTEN. |
| wurst | a large sausage. |
| wurzel | a variety of beet. [Ger. Wurzel, root]. |
| yodel yodle jodel | to sing or shout changing rapidly from normal to falsetto. |
| zander | a European pike perch allied to the WALLEYE. |
| zeitgeber | an environmental agent or event (as the occurrence of light or dark) that provides the stimulus for setting or resetting an organism's biological clock. |
| zeitgeist | the general intellectual, moral and cultural climate of an era. |
| zeppelin | a dirigible, cigar-shaped airship of the type designed by Count Zeppelin (c.1900). |
| zingel | a freshwater percid fish, having an elongated body with dark mottling on the back, found in central European rivers such as the Danube. |
| zinke | an old wind instrument, like a cornet. |
| zither zithern | a musical instrument of strings stretched over a horizontal sounding board and plucked with a plectrum. |
| zizel | the ground-squirrel. [Ger. Ziesel, chipmunk]. |
| zugzwang | a situation in a chess game in which a player is forced to make an undesirable or disadvantageous move. |
| zwanziger | an old Austrian silver coin, equivalent to twenty kreutzers. |
| zwieback | a usu. sweetened bread that is baked and then sliced and toasted until dry and crisp. |
| zwischenzug | in chess, a temporizing move (i.e. a delay in capturing, usually via a check). |