East Germanicadj.n.
/ˌiːst dʒəˈmanɪk/, U.S. /ˌis(t) dʒərˈmænɪk/ A. adj.
Of, relating to, or speaking East Germanic (see sense B.).In quot. 1852: designating a tribe inhabiting the eastern part of the Germanic-speaking region.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > languages of the world > Indo-Hittite > [adjective] > Indo-European > Germanic > Gothic
Gothic1611
Moeso-Gothic1735
East Germanic1852
1852 C. Anthon Latin-Eng. & Eng.-Latin Dict. i. 300/1 Elysii, an East-Germanic tribe.
1879 H. Sweet in Trans. Philol. Soc. 1877–9 388 The loss of inflections of the nom.sg. was universally carried out through the whole group..in contradistinction to the East-Germanic languages, Gothic and Scandinavian.
1898 N.E.D. at Germanic Also with limiting word, in the designations of the subordinate groups into which the Germanic family of langs. is divided: the East Germanic, including Gothic (and some langs. of which only traces remain, as Burgundian, Vandal), [etc.].
1930 V. G. Childe Bronze Age vii. 242 The only serious problem is the attribution of certain cultures in Eastern Germany which begin in the closing years of the Bronze Age. [Gustav] Kossinna has dubbed them ‘East Germanic’, but the researches of one of his pupils, Petersen, have shown that they disappear from the area in question altogether before the historical Goths are traceable there.
1960 Language 36 511 Greek transcriptions of East Germanic names beginning with ou are completely ambiguous.
2006 T. Hoad in L. Mugglestone Oxf. Hist. Eng. i. 21 Peoples from the East Germanic grouping are believed to have moved eastwards and southwards during the first three or four centuries ad.
B. n.
The extinct eastern branch of the Germanic language family whose primary representative is Gothic. Formerly also: †this branch along with the North Germanic languages (obsolete).
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1875 Academy 17 July 71/1 The first of these [excursions on general questions of Germanic philology] treats of the change of a, i, u into e and o in the West Germanic languages (following Scherer's division of East and West Germanic).
1901 J. B. Greenough & G. L. Kittredge Words & their Ways in Eng. Speech (1907) xii. 163 Besides the West Germanic dialects, the Teutonic branch includes East Germanic (Gothic) and Scandinavian, to both of which English is allied.
1955 T. Burrow Sanskrit Lang. 8 Germanic..may be divided into East Germanic or Gothic (extinct), Nordic or Scandinavian, and West Germanic.
1998 A. Dalby Dict. Langs. 225/1 By AD 500, East Germanic (Gothic) was being carried through the Roman Empire as a language of mercenary troops who were already beginning to conquer territory for themselves.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1852