Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
germane - 4 dictionary results

ger⋅mane

  [jer-meyn]
Use germane in a Sentence
–adjective
1. closely or significantly related; relevant; pertinent: Please keep your statements germane to the issue.
2. Obsolete. closely related.
Origin:
var. of german

Related forms:
ger⋅mane⋅ly, adverb
ger⋅mane⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. related, applicable, apposite, appropriate, fitting, apt, suited.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To germane
ger·mane   (jər-mān')   
adj.  Being both pertinent and fitting. See Synonyms at relevant.

[Middle English germain, having the same parents, closely connected; see german2.]
ger·mane'ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Germane

Ger*mane"\, a. [See German akin, nearly related.] Literally, near akin; hence, closely allied; appropriate or fitting; relevant.

The phrase would be more germane to the matter. --Shak.

[An amendment] must be germane. --Barclay (Digest).
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source

germane 
1340, "having the same parents," derived from german (1); cf. human/humane, urban/urbane. Main modern sense of "closely connected, relevant" (1602) derives from use in "Hamlet" Act V, Scene ii: "The phrase would bee more Germaine to the matter: If we could carry Cannon by our sides," which is a fig. use of the word in the now-obsolete sense of "closely related, akin" (1470) in reference to things, not persons.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Search another word or see germane on Thesaurus | Reference