Glossary of German Terms and Abbreviations

WARNING: Do not cite this page as a reference. This page is on this wiki to make the content "searchable" and easier to find. If you find the information you seek here, go to the original sources (generally linked) to verify the information and use them for your documentation. Contact the editor-in-chief, Sofya la Rus, if there are copyright concerns or other issues.  sofya at calontiri dot info 

Titles, Terms, Locations, and Various Abbreviations Encountered in German Onomastic Texts and Armorials

by Gotfrid von Schwaben

Forward

As time progresses our base level of knowledge concerning medieval and renaissance naming practices increases. Likewise, our pool of onomastic resources becomes more refined. When reading texts written in English, finding the documentation and understanding what the author is saying is quite simple for fluent English speakers. Frequently, however, the best resource for a certain culture’s naming practice is in a language other than English. For those who are attempting to read resources in another language and have little to no knowledge of that language, it becomes a bit more problematic.

While I am a fairly fluent, semi-native speaker of German, my level of constant exposure and usage of German leveled off during my teen years. As a joke, albeit true, I will often answer the question of where I learned my German by stating I learned it sitting in the lap of my mother and grandmother. And even though I do have opportunities to brush the dust off my language skills, they are not as frequent as I would like. Additionally, the dialect of German with which I grew up is not the same as that used in scholarly works.

Because of this, while doing German onomastic research I have come across a number of common terms and abbreviations, not all of which have been familiar to me. As a result, I created a list of titles, abbreviations, terms, etc., which I encountered in various German texts. Most of the terms I pulled from the books listed in the bibliography at the end of this glossary. Additional entries in this list are more “common knowledge” items peculiar to Germany culled from my Langenscheidts German to English dictionary. Some of the abbreviations are in direct reference to languages or dialects with which I had no knowledge. Those items are footnoted and a rudimentary explanation is provided using mostly Wikipedia entries. Granted, while Wikipedia is hardly scholarly, it does at least give the reader a basic understanding and a starting point from which to pursue research that is more scholarly. This list spells out what the abbreviations are and translates those into their English equivalents, thus making it easier for non-German-speaking researchers to understand what the text is conveying.

Gotfrid

---

German titles, terms, and locations

German Term	xx	Translation	xxx xxx	German Term	xx	Translation	xxx xxx	German Term	xx	Translation
Aachen		Aix-la-Chapelle		Hofdame		Lady-in-waiting		Ritterschaft		Chivalry, Knighthood
Adel		Nobility, Aristocracy		Hofnarr		Court jester		Sachsen		Saxony
Adel verpflichtet		Noblesse oblige		Hinterpommern		Eastern Pomerania		Schlesien		Silesia
Baron		Baron		Kärnten		Carinthia		Schwaben		Swabia
Bayern		Bavaria		Königsreich, (-e)		Kingdom(s)		Schwäbische Alb		Swabian Jura
Bistum, (Bistümer)		Bishopric(s)		König, (-e)		King(s)		Schwäbische Alpen		Swabian Alps
Bodensee1		Lake Constance		Königin, (-nen)		Queen(s)		Schweiz		Switzerland
Böhmen und Mähren		Bohemia-Moravia		Kurfürst, (-en)		Elector(s)		Seidenstraße, die		the Silk Road
Böhmerwald, der		Bohemian forest		Kurfürstentag		Diet		Siebenbürgen6		Transylvania
Braunschweig		Brunswick		Kurfürstentum		Electorate		(andere) Stadt, (Städten)		(other) City (-ies)
Donau, die		Danube river		Kurfürstenpfalz		The Electoral Palatinate		Sixtinische Kapelle, die		Sistine Chapel
Elsass, Elsaß		Alsace		Köln		(city of) Cologne		Straße von Gibraltar7		Strait of Gibraltar
Elsass-, Elsaß-Lothringen		Alsace-Lorraine		Kölner Dom, der		the Cologne Cathedral		Steiermark		Styria
Ehrbare Geschlecter		respectable families		Mark Brandenburg		Brandenburg Marches		Tempelberg, der		Temple Mount (Jerusalem)
Erzbistum, (Erzbistümer)		Archbishopric(s)		Meissen, Meißen		Meissen, Misnia		Thüringen		Thuringia
Erzherzog, (Erzherzöge)		Archduke(s)		Mittelmeer, das3		Mediterranean sea		Tirol		Tyrol
Felsendom, der		Dome of the Rock (Jerusalem)		Namenkunde		Onomastics		Ungarn		Hungary
Franken		Franconia		Nürnberg		Nuremberg		Unterfranken		Lower Franconia
Frankreich		France		Oberfranken		Upper Franconia		Venedig		Venice
Freiherr, (-en)2		Baron(s)		Oberpfalz		Upper Palatinate		Vierwaldstätter See, der8		Lake Lucerne
Fürst, (-en)		Prince(s)		Oberrheinische Tiefebene		Upper Rhine valley		Vorpommern		Western Pomerania
Fürstentum, (Fürstentümer)		Principality (Principalities)		Österreich		Austria		Wappen		Coat of Arms
Fürstenhoff		(royal) court		Ostsee4		Baltic sea		Wappenerklärung		blazon, blazonry
Gallien		Gaul		Patrizier		Patricians, upper class		Wappenkunde		Heraldry
Genf		Geneva		Pfalz		The Palatinate		Wappenschild		escutcheon
Gefürstete Abtei, (-en)		Principality Abbey(s)		Pfalzgraf, (-en)		Count(s) Palatine		Wappenschmuck		heraldic ornamentation
Gefreite Abtei, (-en)		Independent Abbey(s)		Reichsfürst, (-en)		Imperial Prince(s)		Wappenspruch		heraldic motto
Grabeskirche, die		Church of the Holy Sepulcher (Jerusalem)		Reichsritter, (-s)		Imperial Knight(s)		Wappentier		heraldic animal
Graf, (-en)		Count(s), Earl(s)		Reichsstadt, (Reichsstädte)		Imperial City (-ies)		Wenzelsplatz, der		Wenceslas Square (Prague)
Gräfin, (-nen)		Countesses		Reichstag		Imperial Diet		Westfalen		Westphalia
Herr, (-en)		Lord(s)		Reichswappen		Imperial Arms		Wien		Vienna
Herzog, (Herzöge)		Duke(s)		Rheinland		Rhineland
Herzogin, (-nen)		Duchess(es)		Rheinpfalz		Rhenish Palatinate
Hessen		Hesse		Ritter5		Knight(s)

1 Literally translates as “ground or bottom lake (sea)".

2 The titles Freiherr (abbreviated as Frhr.) and Freifrau (abbreviated as Frfr.) literally translate as "free lord" or "free lady". The title Freiin referred to unmarried daughters and maiden aunts. The title Freiherr derives from the late Middle High German vrīherre and means “Free Nobleman“. These titles of nobility correspond to baron in rank within the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire and in its various successor states, including Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, etc. Traditionally it denotes the second lowest titled rank within the nobility, above Ritter (knight) and Adler (nobility without a specific title) and below Graf (count, earl) and Herzog (duke).

In social circumstances, a Freiherr is addressed "Herr Baron" or (more familiarly) "Baron”, although that is not the official title. The original distinction derives from the historical geo-political situation in which an owner held free (allodial) title to his land. This is unlike the ordinary baron, who was originally a knight (Ritter) in vassalage to a higher lord or sovereign, or medieval German ministerials, who were bound to provide administrative services for a lord. In northern Germany, there was also an official but foreign rank of "Baron" (not "Freiherr"), mostly used for Baltic barons created by the Tsar of Russia, but recognized in Germany. In Austria-Hungary and in the Baltic and Nordic countries, "Freiherr" was considered to be of equal rank to the title of "Baron".

Barons who received their title from the Holy Roman Emperor were sometimes known as Reichsfreiherren or “Barons of the Holy Roman Empire" as a distinction from other barons. Since the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, Reichsfreiherren do not presently belong to the noble hierarchy. However, their titles were officially recognized by a decision of the Congress of Vienna in 1815. After 1806 the independent German monarchies, such as Bavaria, Württemberg and Lippe could create their own nobility, including Freiherren. Interestingly, the Elector of Brandenburg had even before that date, as king of the originally exclusively extraterritorial Prussia, claimed for himself the prerogative of ennoblement. Some of the older baronial families began to use Reichsfreiherr in formal contexts to distinguish themselves from the new classes of barons created by monarchs of lesser stature than the Holy Roman Emperors; this usage is far from obsolete. [Wikipedia]

3 Literally translates as “the middle sea".

4 Literally translates as “the east lake (sea)".

5 The nominative plural form for Ritter is the same as the singular.

6 Literally translates as “seven fortifications (castles)".

7 Literally translates as “street or road" of Gibraltar.

8 Literally translates as “Literally translates as “the four forest places lake”.

---

German abbreviations (Abkürzungen)

Symbols

A

Abbreviation
	xxx xxx	German term	xxx xxx	Translation
Abb.		Abbildung		picture, illustration
abgeg.		abgegangen		came, derived, branched from
Abltg.		Ableitung		derivation, derivative
adän.		altdänisch		Old Danish
aengl.		altenglisch		Old English
afries.		altfriesisch		Old Frisian
afrz. (afranz.)		altfranzösisch		Old French
ags.		angelsächsisch		Anglo-Saxon
ägypt.		ägyptisch		Egyptian
ahd.		althochdeutsch		Old High German
aind.		altindisch		Old Indian
air.		altirisch		Old Irish
aisl.		altisländisch		Old Icelandic
alem.		alemannisch		Alemannic
altd.		altdeutsch		Old German
and.		altniederdeutsch		Old Low German
anord.		altnordisch		Old Nordic
apers.		altpersisch		Old Persian
apolab.		altpolabisch		Old Polabian1
apoln.		altpolnisch		Old Polish
apreuß.		altpreußisch		Old Prussian
arab.		arabisch		Arabian
aruss.		altrussisch		Old Russian
asächs.		altsächsisch		Old Saxon
aslaw.		altslawisch		Old Slavic
asorb.		altsorbisch		Old Sorbian2
atschech.		alttschechisch		Old Czechoslovakian
awest.		awestisch		Avestan3

1 The Polabian language, which became extinct in the 18th century, was a group of Slavic dialects spoken in present-day northern Germany: Mecklenburg, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, eastern parts of Lower Saxony, and Schleswig-Holstein. It was one of the Lechitic languages. The name derives from the name of Polabian tribes, which in turn derives from the name of the Elbe river in Slavic languages: Łaba in Polish and Labe in Czech. There are known Polabian texts from the Wendland (Lüchow-Dannenberg) in the 17th and 18th centuries. As an example of the language, The Lord's Prayer in Polabian is: Aita nos, tâ toi jis wâ nebesai, sjętü wordoj tüji jaimą; tüji rik komaj; tüja wüľa mo są ťüńot kok wâ nebesai tok no zemi; nosę wisedanesnę sťaibę doj nam dâns; a wütâdoj nam nose greche, kok moi wütâdojeme nosim gresnarem; ni bringoj nos wâ warsükongę; toi losoj nos wüt wisokag chaudag. Pritü tüje ją tü ťenądztwü un müc un câst, warchni Büzac, nekąda in nekędisa. Amen. See also the Wends.

2 The Sorbian languages are classified under the West Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. They are the native languages of the Sorbian people, a Slavic minority in eastern Germany. The language has also historically been known as Wendish or Lusatian. There are two literary languages: Upper Sorbian (hornjoserbsce), spoken by about 55,000 people in Saxony, and Lower Sorbian (dolnoserbski) spoken by about 14,000 people in Brandenburg. The area where the two languages are spoken is known as Lusatia (Łužica in Upper Sorbian, Łužyca in Lower Sorbian, or Lausitz in German). Both languages have dual grammatical number; they are among the very few living Indo-European languages to retain this feature (the other being Slovenian). The dual is used when exactly two people or things are meant and is in addition to singular and plural. In Germany Upper and Lower Sorbian are officially recognized and protected as minority languages. The city of Bautzen near Dresden is a centre of Upper Sorbian culture. Notable is the fact that bilingual signs can be seen around the city including the name of the city itself at the railway station given as 'Bautzen/Budyšin'. The city of Cottbus (Chóśebuz) is considered the cultural centre of Lower Sorbian; here too bilingual signs are found. Sorbian is also spoken in the small Wendish settlement of Serbin in Lee County, Texas, and until recently newspapers were published in Wendish there. It has been heavily influenced by surrounding speakers of German and English.

3 Avestan, also called (incorrectly) Zend Language, is an Eastern Iranian language known only from its use as the language of Zoroastrian scripture, i.e. the Avesta, from which it derives its name. The language must also at some time have been a natural language, but how long ago that was is unknown. Avestan falls into two strata, the older being that of the Gāthās, which reflects a linguistic stage (dating from c. 600 BC) close to that of Vedic Sanskrit in India. The greater part of the Avesta is written in a more recent form of the language and shows gradual simplification and variation in grammatical forms. When the canon of the Avesta was being fixed (4th to 6th century AD), Avestan was a dead language known only to priests. Its status as a sacred language ensured its continuing use for new compositions long after the language had ceased to be a living language.

---

B

Abbreviation	xxx xxx	German term	xxx xxx	Translation
B.		Bürger		citizen, resident, inhabitant
bayr. (bair.)		bayrisch		Bavarian
Bd. (Bde.)		Band (Bände)		Volume(s)
BE		Berlin
Bed.		Bedeutung(en)		meaning(s)
bes. (bsd.)		besonders		especially, particularly
betr.		betreffend		concerning, regarding, as to
Bez.		Bezeichnung(en)		name(s), term(s), designation(s)
		Bezirk		district
BN		Berufsname		occupational name
BR		Brandenburg
bulg.		bulgarisch		Bulgarian
BW		Bestimmungswort		determinative element
BWÜ		Baden-Württemberg
BY		Bayern		Bavaria
bzgl.		bezüglich		regarding, concerning (re:)
bzw.		beziehungsweise		respectively

---

C

Abbreviation	xxx xxx	German term	xxx xxx	Translation
christl.		christlich		Christian

---

D

Abbreviation	xxx xxx	German term	xxx xxx	Translation
d. Ä.		der Ältere		the Elder
dän.		dänisch		Danish
demin.		deminutivisch		diminutively
d. Gr.		der (or die) Große		the Great
d. h.		das heißt		that is, that’s called (i.e.)
d. J.		der Jüngere		the Younger
dt.		deutsch		German

---

E

Abbreviation	xxx xxx	German term	xxx xxx	Translation
eig. (eigtl.)		eigentlich		eventually
els.		elsässisch		Alsatian
engl.		englisch		English
entspr.		entsprechend		corresponding, analogous, commensurate (with)
eosl.		elb- und ostseeslawisch		Wends and Baltic sea Slavic1
europ.		europäisch		European
ev.		evangelisch		Lutheran

1 Elbslawen or Wenden (lat. Venedi; English: Wends) is the name for some Slavic people from north-central Europe, particularly the Sorbs living in modern-day Germany. The name is derived from the German term Veneter, used for various non-Germanic tribes (see also Germanic place names). The term has not historically enjoyed consistent usage — it is mostly employed specifically for one or two Slavic groups but in the past it was often used as an over-arching term for all Slavic people. As a result, it is still difficult today to present a coherent picture of the Wends as a people. The term Wends was used in history in the following meanings: (1) The Franks referred to most Slavs living between the Oder and Elbe rivers as either Wends or Sorbs, while in Slavic literature these people are called Polabian Slavs. (2) In general, a German name for West Slavic people formerly inhabiting territories of pre-World War II Pomerania and historical eastern Germany. The term Wends was used in connection to all Slavs west of Poland and north of Bohemia — Polabians, Pomeranians and Sorbs. It was also used to denote the Slovaks in German texts before ca. 1400. (3) German and English name for Sorbs, a Slavic people who moved into Central Europe during the great migration, most likely in response to pressure by the westward movement of warlike peoples such as the Huns and Avars. Some of their descendants, also called Wends or Lusatian Sorbs (Lužički Srbi), still live in Lusatia today, where the Sorbian language is maintained in schools. Many Wends were driven out of the Kingdom of Prussia during the Revolutions of 1848. Many Lusatian Wends immigrated to countries that welcomed them as a source of cheap labor, including the United States and Australia. In the United States, the majority of Wends settled in Texas, where they became some of the earliest members of the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran church. A notable settlement of Wends in Texas is the town of Serbin, in Lee County, where a church, St. Paul's Lutheran Church, stands as a typical example of Wendish architecture. In St. Paul's, the pulpit is located in the balcony of the church. (4) German name for Kashubians. (5) Some Finnish historians claim the words Wends or Vandals used in Scandinavian sources occasionally meant all peoples of the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea from Pomerania to Finland, including some Finnic peoples. The existence of these supposed Finnic Wends is far from clear. In the 13th century there was indeed a people called Wends or Vends living as far as northern Latvia around the city of Wenden and it is not known if they were indeed Slavs as their name suggests. Some researchers think they were related to Finnic-speaking Votians.

---

F

Abbreviation	xxx xxx	German term	xxx xxx	Translation
f.		feminin		feminine
finn.		finnisch		Finnish
FN		Familienname(n)		family name(s)
fnhd.		frühneuhochdeutsch		Early New Standard (High) German
fries.		friesisch		Frisian
Frh. (Frhr)		Freiherr		Baron
Frfr.		Freifrau		Baroness
frk. (fränk.)		fränkisch		Frankish
frz. (franz)		französisch		French
frühmhd		frühmittelhochdeutsch		Early Middle High German

---

G

Abbreviation	xxx xxx	German term	xxx xxx	Translation
gall.		gallisch		Gallic
galloroman.		galloromanisch		Gallo-Romanic
gen.		genitivisch		genitivally (pertaining to genitive [possessive] case)
germ.		germanisch		Germanic
GewN		Gewässername		names of bodies of water, incl. rivers and tributaries
Gde.		Gemeinde		municipality, parish
got.		gotisch		Gothic
gleichbed.		gleichbedeutend		synonymous
griech.		griechisch		Greek
GW		Grundwort		root word, etymon1

1 Grundwort, frequently abbreviated as GW, is a term often used in German onomastic texts and translates as a primary word or etymon. It literally means “ground word” or root word//. To say it is just a “root word” does not quite do justice to the full meaning of the term. The term etymon actually catches the full flavor of the term //Grundwort//, but is most likely much lesser known. As a result, I use the term //etymon// where appropriate. Merriam-Webster defines //etymon [plural etyma or etymons] as “1a) an earlier form of a word in the same language or an ancestral language; b) a word in a foreign language that is the source of a particular loanword; 2) a word or morpheme from which words are formed by composition or derivation.”

---

H

Abbreviation	xxx xxx	German term	xxx xxx	Translation
häuf.		häufig		frequent(ly), widespread
HausN		Hausname		Household name
HB		Bremen
hdschr.		handschriftlich		handwritten, in writing
HE		Hessen
hebr.		hebräisch		Hebrew
hess.		hessisch		Hessian
Hg.		Herausgeber		publisher, editor
hg.		herausgegeben (von)		published, edited (by)
HH		Hamburg
hl.		heilig		holy, sacred, hallowed
HlN (Heil. N.)		Heiligenname		Saint’s name
HN (Herk. N.)		Herkunftsname		name derived from origin (background, place, country, or ethnicity)
hochd. (hd.)		hochdeutsch		Standard (High) German
HofN		Hofname(n)		farm name(s)
hold. (holl.)		holländisch		Dutch
Hr(n)		Herr(n)		Mister
hugen.		hugenottisch		Huguenot

---

I

Abbreviation	xxx xxx	German term	xxx xxx	Translation
i. a. (i. Allg.)		im allgemeinen		in general, generally
idg.		indogermanisch		Indo-Germanic
i. d. R.		in der Regel		as a rule
i. e. S.		im engeren Sinne		in the narrow(er) sense
		im eigentlichen Sinne		in the true sense (of the word), in the proper sense
i. J.		im Jahre		in (the year)
illyr.		illyrisch		Illyrian1
insges.		insgesamt		altogether, in all
ital. (it.)		italienisch		Italian
i. w. S.		im weiteren Sinne		in the broad(er) sense

1 The Illyrian languages are a group of Indo-European languages that were spoken in the western part of the Balkans in former times by ethnic groups identified as Illyrians: Delmatae, Pannoni, Illyrioi, Autariates, Taulanti (see List of Illyrian tribes). The Illyrian languages are generally, but not unanimously, reckoned as centum languages. Some sound-changes and other language features are deduced from what remains of the Illyrian languages, but because no writings in Illyrian are known, there is not sufficient evidence to clarify its place within the Indo-European language family aside from its probable centum nature. Because of the uncertainty, most sources provisionally place Illyrian on its own branch of Indo-European, though its relation to other languages, ancient and modern, continues to be studied and debated.

---

J

Abbreviation	xxx xxx	German term	xxx xxx	Translation
Jh.		Jahrhundert		Century
Jh.s.		Jahrhunderts		Centuries
jüd.		jüdisch		Jewish

---

K

Abbreviation	xxx xxx	German term	xxx xxx	Translation
kath.		katholisch		Catholic
kelt.		keltisch		Celtic
KF		Kurzform (Koseform)		short(ened) form, affectionate form
Kt.		Kanton		Canton
kymr.		kymrisch		Welsh1

1 Another term for kymrisch is walisisch.

---

L

Abbreviation	xxx xxx	German term	xxx xxx	Translation
l.		links		left
lad.		ladinisch		Ladin1
LandschaftsN		Landschafts- (Gebietsname)		countryside or territory name
langobard.		langobardisch		Langobardic, Lombardi
lat.		lateinisch		Latin
latin.		latinisiert		Latinized
laus.		lausitzisch		Lausitzi2
lett.		lettisch		Latvian
lit.		litauisch		Lithuanian
		literarisch		literary

1 Not to be confused with Ladino language, Ladin (Ladino in Italian, Ladinisch in German) is a Rhaetian language spoken in the Dolomite mountains in Italy, between the regions of Trentino-South Tyrol and Veneto. It presents connections with the Swiss Romansh and Friulian. It is spoken in: the province of Bozen-Bolzano at (German-Italian-Ladin), St. Ulrich-Ortisei-Urtijëi, St. Christina-Santa Cristina-S. Crestina, Wolkenstein-Selva di Val Gardena-Sëlva, Abteital-Badia-Badia, Kurfahr-Corvara-Curvara, Enneberg-Marebbe-Maréo; the province of Trento in the Val di Fassa at the following seven municipalities: [Canazei (Ladin Cianacei), Campitello (Ladin Ciampedèl), Mazzin (Ladin Mazin), Pozza di Fassa (Ladin Poza), Vigo di Fassa (Ladin Vich), Soraga (Ladin Soraga -or- Sorega), and Moena (Ladin Moena)]. The Ladin spoken in the Fassa Valley (Ladin Val de Fascia, Italian Val di Fassa) is also subdivided into two further branches, "Cazét" (pronounced "cazet") is spoken in the northern half of the valley, whereas "Brach" (pronounced "brak"), is spoken in the southern half. For example, in Cazét, water is "ega" ("e" pronounced as in English "Elephant"), whereas in Brach it is "aga". It is further spoken in the province of Belluno in Livinallongo valley (Ladin Fèdom, German Buchenstein) and at Cortina d'Ampezzo (Ladin Anpëz). It is officially recognized in Italy and has some official rights in the region of Trentino-South Tyrol, while it does not have official status in the province of Belluno (Veneto region).

2 The Lausitzi dialect belongs to East Middle German. It is spoken in the Lausitz region in East Saxony and in Southern Brandenburg and is related to the adjacent dialects of the Thuringian-Upper Saxon and to Lower Silesian. From there also is derived the designation: Lausitzi-Silesian, which is only occasionally used however.

---

M

Abbreviation	xxx xxx	German term	xxx xxx	Translation
m.		maskulin		masculine
MA.		Mittelalter		medieval
masch.		maschinenschriftlich		typed, in typescript
metron.		metronymisch		matronymic
md. (mitteld.)		mitteldeutsch		Middle German
mdal. (mda.)		mundartlich		dialectal
mhd		mittelhochdeutsch		Middle High German
mir.		mittelirisch		Middle Irish
mlat. (mittellat.)		mittellateinisch		Middle Latin
mnd		mittelniederdeutsch		Middle Low German
mniederl.		mittelneiderländisch		Middle Dutch
MV		Mecklenburg-Vorpommern		Mecklenburg-West Pomerania

---

N

Abbreviation	xxx xxx	German term	xxx xxx	Translation
N		Norden		North
n.		nach		after, to
		nördlich		northern
		neutral		neutral
Nbf.		Nebenform		variant
n. Chr.		nach Christus		(after Christ) AD
nd (ndd.)		niederdeutsch		Low German
ndld (ndl.; nl.)		niederländisch		Dutch
ndrhein. (nrhein.)		niederrheinisch		Low Rhenish (from the lower Rhine)
NDS		Niedersachsen		Lower Saxony
nhd.		neuhochdeutsch		New High German
nord.		nordisch		Nordic
nordd		norddeutsch		North German
nordfries.		nordfriesisch		North Frisian
norw.		norwegisch		Norwegian
nordwestd.		nordwestdeutsch		Northwest German
NRW		Nordrhein-Westfalen		North Rhine-Westphalia
nso.		niedersorbisch		Lower Sorbian1
n. u. Z.		nach unserer Zeitrechnung		Anno Domini (‘according to our time reckoning’)

1 See footnote for ‘asorb.’ (altsorbisch)

---

O

Abbreviation	xxx xxx	German term	xxx xxx	Translation
O		Osten		East
ö.		östlich		eastern
o. Ä.		oder Ähnliche(s)		or the like
oberd. (obd.)		oberdeutsch		Upper (Southern) German
oberschw.		oberschwäbisch		Upper Swabian
od.		oder		or
o. J.		ohne Jahr		undated (‘without year’)
ON		Ortsname		place name
ÖN		Örtlichkeitsname (Siedlungsname, Stellenbezeichnung)		locality, place name (settlement name, location description)
osä.		obersächsisch		Upper Saxon
oso.		obersorbisch		Upper Sorbian1
ostd.		ostdeutsch		East German
österr.		österreichisch		Austrian
ostfränk.		ostfränkisch		East Frankish
ostmitteld. (ostmd.)		ostmitteldeutsch		East Middle German
ostpr.		ostpreußisch		East Prussian
ostslaw.		ostslawisch		East Slavic

1 See footnote for ‘asorb.’ (altsorbisch)

---

P

Abbreviation	xxx xxx	German term	xxx xxx	Translation
PN		Personenname(n)		personal name(s)
polab.		polabisch		Polabian1
poln.		polnisch		Polish
port.		portugiesisch		Portuguese
prot.		protestantisch		Protestant

1 see footnote for ‘apolab.’ (altpolabisch)

---

R

Abbreviation	xxx xxx	German term	xxx xxx	Translation
r.		rechts		right
rel.		relativ		relatively
rhein.		rheinisch		Rhenish
rheinfränk.		rheinfränkisch		Rhenish-Franconian
rom.		romanisch		pertaining to Romance languages
RN		Rufname		first ("called", given) name
röm.		römisch		Roman
RP		Rheinland-Pfalz		Rhineland-Palatinate
russ.		russisch		Russian

---

S

Abbreviation	xxx xxx	German term	xxx xxx	Translation
S		Süden		South
S.		Seite		page
s.		siehe		see [also]
		südlich		southern
s. a.		siehe auch		see also
SAC		Sachsen		Saxony
SAN		Sachsen-Anhalt		Saxony-Anhalt
SatzN		Satzname		phrase name (epitaph-type name derived from a sentence description such as Eisenhower. Eisen + hower = ‘iron hitter’ or blacksmith.)
schles.		schlesisch		Silesian
schwäb.		schwäbisch		Swabian
schwed.		schwedisch		Swedish
schweiz.		schweizerisch		Swiss
sd.		siehe diesen Artikel		see this article
s. d.		siehe dies, siehe dort		see also
serbokroat.		serbokroatisch		Serbo-Croatian
SH		Schleswig-Holstein
SL		Saarland
slaw.		slawisch		Slavic
slowak.		slowakisch		Slovakian
slowen.		slowenisch		Slovenian
SN		Sippenname		Clan name
s. o.		siehe oben		see above
sog.		sogenannt		so-called
sorb.		sorbisch		Sorbian1
spätmhd.		spätmittelhochdeutsch		Late Middle High German
span.		spanisch		Spanish
StammesN		Stammesname		name derived from ethnicity (tribal)
StraßenN		Straßenname		street name
s. u.		siehe unten		see below
südd.		süddeutsch		Southern German
südostd.		südostdeutsch		Southeast German
südslaw.		südslawisch		South Slavic
südwestd.		südwestdeutsch		Southwest German

1 See footnote for ‘asorb. (altsorbisch)

---

T

Abbreviation	xxx xxx	German term	xxx xxx	Translation
TH		Thüringen		Thuringia
thür.		thüringisch		Thuringian
tirol.		tirolisch		Tyrolean
TN		(christlicher) Taufname		(Christian) baptismal name
tschech.		tschechisch		Czech(oslovakian)
typ.		typisch		typical(ly)

---

U

Abbreviation	xxx xxx	German term	xxx xxx	Translation
u.		und		and
u. a.		und andere(s)		and others
		unter anderem		among other things
u. Ä. (u. ä.)		und Ähnlich(e, es)		and the like
ugs.		umgangssprachlich		colloquial(ly)
ÜN		Übername		nickname, sobriquet, epithet
ung. (ungar.)		ungarisch		Hungarian
urslaw.		urslawisch		proto-Slavic1
urspr.		ursprünglich		originally
usw.		und so weiter		and so on (et cetera [etc.])
u. v. a.		und viele(s) andere		and many more (others)

1 Proto-Slavic is the proto-language from which Old Church Slavonic and all the other Slavic languages later emerged. It was spoken before the 7th century. No Proto-Slavic writings have been found, so the language has been reconstructed from applying the comparative method to all the attested Slavic languages and other Indo-European languages. There is much debate whether pre-Proto-Slavic branched off directly from Proto-Indo-European, or whether it passed through a Proto-Balto-Slavic stage. Proto-Slavic proper developed during the early 1st millennium AD, and was separated into dialects in the 5th or 6th century, as Slavic tribes began to migrate in the wake of the Germanic migration period. In the second half of the 9th century, the dialect spoken north of Thessaloniki became the basis for first written Slavic language, created by the brothers Cyril and Methodius who translated portions of the Bible and other church books. The language they recorded is known as Old Church Slavonic. Old Church Slavonic is not identical to Proto-Slavic, having been recorded at least two centuries after the breakup of Proto-Slavic, and it shows features that clearly distinguish it from Proto-Slavic. However, it is still reasonably close, and the mutual intelligibility between Old Church Slavonic and other Slavic dialects of those days was proved by Cyril's and Methodius' mission to Great Moravia and Pannonia. There, their early South Slavic dialect used for the translations was clearly understandable to the local population which spoke an early West Slavic dialect.

---

V

Abbreviation	xxx xxx	German term	xxx xxx	Translation
v.		von, vom		of, from, by
v. a.		vor allem		above all
v. Chr.		vor Christus		(before Christ) BC
vlat.		vulgärlateinisch		vulgar (common) Latin
v. l. n. r.		von links nach rechts		from left to right
versch.		verschiedene		various, assorted
vogtl.		vogtländisch		Vogtlandic1
VölkerN		Völkername		name derived from ethnicity (nationality)
vor.		vorhergehendes		preceding
VN		Vorname		first (given) name
vgl.		vergleiche		confer, compare [to], same as

1 A German dialect spoken in what was then called Vogtland. The Vogtlandkreis is a Landkreis (rural district) in the southwest of Saxony, Germany, at the borders to Thuringia, Bavaria, and the Czech Republic. Neighboring districts are (from south clockwise) Hof, Saale-Orla, Greiz, Zwickauer Land, Aue-Schwarzenberg. The urban district of Plauen is located in the center of the district. The Vogtland became part of the Holy Roman Empire in the 12th century by King Conrad III. In 1209 the minister dynasty administrating the area split into three lines, Weida, Greiz and Gera-Plauen. When the central power over the area decreased these leaders, called in Latin advocatus or in German Vögte could rise from administrators to actual county leaders. 1354-1357 the Vogtland war ended these leadership and the area changed ownership to Bohemia. In 1546 Henry IV from Plauen got the area from the Bohemian king and later emperor Ferdinand I. His children did not only inherit the land, but also very high debt, so to pay these 1563 the area was bought by Saxony from Henry VI, and when in 1569 Henry VI finally ceased to claim ownership the new leadership created the first Vogtland district (Voigtländischen Creiß). 1657-1718 Saxony was split into parts, the Vogtland belonged to Saxony-Zeitz. In 1835 the new constitutional monarchy changed the administration and abolished the old district, and instead the Amtshauptmannschaft Plauen was created, and in 1867 those of Auerbach and Oelsnitz. 1907 the city of Plauen left the district and became district-free city. 1952 the East German government with the big administrative reform renamed them to Kreise (districts), and created the new districts Klingenthal and Reichenbach by decreasing the size of the previous ones. After the German Reunification the changes of the 1952 reform were mostly undone, and in 1996 the 5 districts were merged to form the Vogtlandkreis.

---

W

Abbreviation	xxx xxx	German term	xxx xxx	Translation
w.		westlich		western
weibl.		weiblich		female (feminine)
westd.		westdeutsch		West German
westmitteld. (westmd.)		westmitteldeutsch		West Middle German
westnd.		westniederdeutsch		West Lower German
westslaw.		westslawisch		West Slavic
WN		Wohnstättenname(n)		name(s) derived from a residential town
württ.		württembergisch		Württemberger

---

XYZ

Abbreviation	xxx xxx	German term	xxx xxx	Translation
z. B.		zum Beispiel		for instance, for example (e.g.)
Zs.		Zeitschrift		magazine, periodical
z. T.		zum Teil		partly, partially
Zus. (Zstzg.)		Zusammensetzung(en)		composition(s), compound(s)
zus.		zusammen		together

---

Bibliography

Bahlow, Hans. Deutsches Namenlexikon, Baden-Baden: Suhrkamp Taschenbuch Verlag, 1985.

Berger, Dieter. Geographische Namen in Deutschland: Herkunft und Bedeutung der Namen von Ländern, Städten, Bergen und Gewässern, Mannheim. Dudenverlag, 1999.

Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann. Etymologisches Wörterbuch der Deutschen Familiennamen, 2 vol. Limburg an der Lahn: C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-60.

Encyclopædia Britannica online excerpt for Avenstan language, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/45669/Avestan-language

Kunze,Konrad. dtv-Atlas Namenkunde. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH, 2000.

Langenscheidts Großes Schulwörterbuch: Deutsch-English. Edited by Martin Fellermayer and Helga Krüger. Berlin & München: Langescheidt KG, 2001.

LEO English – German Dictionary. (WWW: Online Service by Informatik der Technischen Universität München, 1995-2003. http://dict.leo.org

Naumann, Horst, ed. Familiennamenbuch. Leipzig: VEB Bibliographisches Institut, 1989.

Siebmacher, Johann. Johann Siebmachers Wappenbuch von 1605, special edition. Edited by Horst Appuhn. München: Orbis Verlag für Pulizistik, 1999.

Socin, Adolf. Mittelhochdeutsches Namenbuch Nach Oberrheinischen Quellen des Zwölften und Dreizehnten Jahrhunderts. Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlagbuchhandlung, 1966.

Wikipedia entry for Avenstan language http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illyrian_languages

Wikipedia entry for Freiherr https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freiherr

Wikipedia entry for Illyrian languages http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illyrian_languages]]

Wikipedia entry for Ladin. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladin

Wikipedia entry for Polabian language http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polabian_language

Wikipedia entry for proto-Slavic language http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Slavic_language

Wikipedia entry for Sorbian languages http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorbian_language

Wikipedia entry for Urslawisch [proto-Slavic] language (German) http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urslawisch

Wikipedia entry for Wends. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wends

WARNING: Do not cite this page as a reference. This page is on this wiki to make the content "searchable" and easier to find. If you find the information you seek here, go to the original sources (generally linked) to verify the information and use them for your documentation. Contact the editor-in-chief, Sofya la Rus, if there are copyright concerns or other issues.  sofya at calontiri dot info