a language of N Germany, spoken esp in rural areas: more closely related to Dutch than to standard High German
Also called: Plattdeutsch. Abbreviation: LG. See also German (sense 1), High German (sense 1)
Low German in American English
1.
Plattdeutsch
2.
the West Germanic languages, except for High German, of the Germanic branch of Indo-European, represented by Old Low Franconian, Old Saxon, Old Frisian, and Old English, and their later stages, including Dutch, Plattdeutsch, English, and Frisian
see also High German
Word origin
calque of Ger niederdeutsch (see nether & Deutschland): so named because orig. spoken chiefly in the Ger lowlands