Top 60 German Words Used in English

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The development of the English language has been a long and complicated one. It is influenced by many languages such as French and German. Many historical events, such as the Norman conquest of the British Isles, have helped develop the language. While English is always evolving and new words are consistently being adding to the language, currently about 25% of English words have German origins.^[1]Finkenstaedt, Thomas; Dieter Wolff (1973). Ordered profusion; studies in dictionaries and the English lexicon. C. Winter. ISBN 3-533-02253-6. In fact, you might actually understand a lot more German than you actually realize. With that in mind check out below for 60 German words used in English.

German Words in Everyday Life

There are many German words that fit into everyday life as an English speaker. While they may come up randomly, they do actually come up quite frequently as well. Many of these words are not much different in German than in English. In fact, most English speakers should be able to easily recognize them.

angst
ansatz
autobahn
automat
blaut
carabiner
cobalt
diesel
edelweiss
ersatz
fest
fife
gesundheit
hamster
kaput
kindergarten
kitsch
rucksack
uber
waltz
zeppelin

German Words for War

There are many German words used in English to describe war. You have probably heard many of them in movies and games with regards to WWII.

blitzkrieg
blitz
fuhrer
gestapo
kaiser
nazi
panzer

German Words for Food

When you think of German food, you tend to think about sausage, potatoes, and beer. While Germans do like all of these things, English speakers have taken a lot more words from German than just these with regards to food.