Kamerad
See also: kamerad
German edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French camarade in the 16th century, ultimately from Latin camera (“chamber”), from Ancient Greek καμάρα (kamára).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
Kamerad m (weak, genitive Kameraden, plural Kameraden, feminine Kameradin)
- (military) comrade (fellow soldier)
- 1929, Horst Wessel (lyrics and music), “Horst-Wessel-Lied (Nazi Party anthem 1930–1945)”:
- Kam'raden, die Rotfront und Reaktion erschossen, / Marschier'n im Geist in unser'n Reihen mit.
- Comrades shot by the Red Front and reactionaries / March in spirit within our ranks.
- comrade (fellow, companion)
- (colloquial) guy, fellow
- (slang, term of address) neo-nazi, right-wing extremist
Usage notes edit
- Does not carry the association with socialism or communism that comrade has in English or its cognates in other languages. (See Genosse for the German equivalent.)
- On the contrary, due to its primary usage as a military term, it is used as a term of address among right wing groups and can be used as a moniker for their members. However, the association is not inherent to the word itself, which is a neutral term in regular usage, but rather understood from context.
- Kamerad has historically been used as a truce or surrender word.
Declension edit
Declension of Kamerad [masculine, weak]