High German

High German  (h)

n.

1. German as indigenously spoken and written in Austria, Switzerland, and central and southern Germany.

2. The standard variety of German used as the official language in Germany and Austria and as one of the official languages in Switzerland.

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[Translation of German Hochdeutsch : hoch, high (from the mountainous terrain of the area in which it originated) + Deutsch, German.]

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High German

n

1. (Linguistics / Languages) the standard German language, historically developed from the form of West Germanic spoken in S Germany Abbreviation HG See also German, Low German

2. (Linguistics / Languages) any of the German dialects of S Germany, Austria, or Switzerland

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

High German - the standard German language; developed historically from West Germanic German language, German Frau - a German courtesy title or form of address for an adult woman Fraulein - a German courtesy title or form of address for an unmarried woman Herr - a German courtesy title or form of address for a man West Germanic, West Germanic language - a branch of the Germanic languages Old High German - High German prior to 1200 Middle High German - High German from 1100 to 1500 Yiddish - a dialect of High German including some Hebrew and other words; spoken in Europe as a vernacular by many Jews; written in the Hebrew script Pennsylvania Dutch - a dialect of High German spoken in parts of Pennsylvania and Maryland Deutschland, FRG, Germany, Federal Republic of Germany - a republic in central Europe; split into East Germany and West Germany after World War II and reunited in 1990