Teuton — English Dictionary

Noun

1. A member of an early Germanic tribe living in Jutland noted in historical writings by Greek and Roman authors.

   Usage

   • Historical

   Examples

   More examples (4)

   The difference between the Clergy and the Teuton conquerors was more than a difference of creed, or of civilization. It was an actual difference of race. They were Romans, to whom the Teuton was a savage, speaking a different tongue, obeying different laws, his whole theory of the universe different from the Roman.

   We have noted that the Teutonic layer of European barbarians, unlike the Celtic layer, resisted the disintegrating action of Hellenism to such effect that the Teutons were able to take their place in the external proletariat of the Hellenic World and to dispatch the Hellenic Society in its death agonies with the coup de grâce.

   Some fifteen hundred years ago, the Teuton tribes of Northern Europe held an annual ceremony.[…]We can't presume to understand all that this specific ritual meant to the Teutons nor precisely what their expectations might have been.

   What he imagined the social order and the experience of the Teutons actually to have been, and why this lost world should represent an ideal, is, it must be said, hard to discover. His pronouncements on the Teutons of the Dark Ages are decidedly sparse.

2. A member of the Teutonic Order.

   Usage

   • Historical

   Examples

   More examples (2)

   The third threat, from the Teutonic Knights of Germany, was the worst, because the Crusader Teutons wanted not only Russian land but also to kill off the people of Russia because they were a different kind of Christian from them!

   Its garrison consisted of the Templars and Hospitalliers, the knights of Cyprus, Teutons, French, English, Pizzan, Venetian, and Genoan mercenaries.[…]On the following day the New Tower of the city, which was defended by the Teuton knights, was taken by assault.

3. A member of any Germanic language-speaking people, especially a German.

   Examples

   More examples (2)

   In the first place, a prolonged struggle in the North Temperate Zone, with a harsh, though not a depressing, natural environment, endows the Teuton with unusual energy and initiative. Then centuries of wanderings in which the strong set forth and the weak and timid stay behind, brings the Teuton to the west of Europe, to the British Isles, and to America, with a courage, enterprise, and self-assertion rare in the history of man. The Teuton becomes the Anglo-Saxon, and therewith less apt for the gregarious life.

   Every Teuton must fall on his face before an inferior Teuton; until they all find, in the foul marshes towards the Baltic, the very lowest of all possible Teutons, and worship him--and find he is a Slav. So much for Pan-Germanism.

   The history of the Teutons, or Germans, as they are more commonly called, is very much like that of the Bantu in central Africa.

Adjective

1. Synonym of Teutonic.

   Related words

   AryanGoth

   Examples

   While some families of the oldest Welsh stocks talk English only, a large number, whose forefathers were Teuton, Norse, or Irish, now converse in Cymraeg.

   More examples (2)

   Had the Jews been so fixed a type, by this time their offspring would have been more numerous than the Chinese. The reverse, however, is the case; and therefore, we may suppose they must have become extinct, had it not been for fresh supplies of Saxon, Teuton, Spanish, and Italian blood.

   While the social system could thus be improved, [G. Stanley] Hall knew that heredity was more important. He argued that a pound of heredity was “worth a hundredweight of education.” It was necessary to pay attention to better breeding: “The nation that breeds best, be it Mongol, Slav, Teuton or Saxon, will rule the world in the future.”

Noun

1. someone (especially a German) who speaks a Germanic language

   Broader terms

   German

2. a member of the ancient Germanic people who migrated from Jutland to southern Gaul and were annihilated by the Romans

   Broader terms

   European