Chinese edit

 
Germany; virtue; goodness
Germany; virtue; goodness; morality; ethics; kindness; favour; character; kind
simp. and trad.
(德意志)
意志

Etymology edit

Phono-semantic matching of German Deutsch (German). Doublet of 同濟同济 (Tóngjì) and 獨逸独逸 (Dúyì).

The tendency to use commendatory characters in country names was also seen in:

  • 美國美国 (Měiguó, “America; lit. pretty country”),
  • 英國英国 (Yīngguó, “England; lit. flower/outstanding country”) and
  • 法國法国 (Fǎguó, “France, lit. the law country”).

Pronunciation edit


Proper noun edit

德意志

  1. (attributive or poetic) Germany (a country in Central Europe, formed in 1949 as West Germany, with its provisional capital Bonn until 1990, when it incorporated East Germany)

Synonyms edit

Derived terms edit