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germane

 - 3 dictionary results

ger⋅mane

[jer-meyn]
–adjective
1. closely or significantly related; relevant; pertinent: Please keep your statements germane to the issue.
2. Obsolete. closely related.

Origin:
var. of german


ger⋅mane⋅ly, adverb
ger⋅mane⋅ness, noun


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.
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Word Origin & History

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
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