Where does “Wehrmacht” come from?
Wehrmacht comes from German Macht meaning "power," from Old High German maht, Proto-Germanic mahtiz, and Proto-Indo-European mógʰtis, ultimately deriving from the root megʰ- meaning "to be able."
Wehrmacht (English): The German armed forces from 1935 to 1945
Definitions
- The German armed forces from 1935 to 1945
Ancestry of “Wehrmacht”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | Wehrmacht | armed forces; Wehrmacht |
| 2 | German | macht | third-person singular present of machen;... |
| 3 | Middle High German | maht | — |
| 4 | Old High German | maht | might |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | mahti | might, power |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | mahtiz | power, ability; strength, force |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | mahtuz | might, power |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | mógʰtis | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | meǵʰ- | to be able |