English-German Cognates - U

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English-German Cognates: U

Words that are identical or similar in English and German
In this annotated glossary, you’ll discover how many English words are directly related to German words. Such words are called cognates.

The following cognate glossaries are located here at AboutGerman.net: T and U. The letters W, X, Y and Z are coming soon. The rest (A-S, V) are still at my former About.com German site.

ABBREVIATIONS:
adj. (adjective), adv. (adverb), , f. (feminine), lit. (literary), m. (masculine), n. (noun), pl. (plural), sl. (slang), v. (verb)

ALSO SEE: False Cognates (False Friends) > Cognate Sound Shifts

Noun Genders: r (der, masc.), e (die, fem.), s (das, neu.)
Abbreviations: adj. adjective, adv. adverb, Am American English, Br British English, diff. used in a different or limited sense, f.c. false cognate, n. noun, pl. plural, pron. pronounced, v. verb

* = Less obvious cognates that may not closely resemble each other in both English and German, but are cognates
** = Words used in English that come from German

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I
J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q
R | S | T | U | V | W | XYZ

What’s a "cognate"?
A cognate is a word that has the same original source as a similar word in another language and is therefore related to that word. The German word Haus is a cognate related to the English word "house." Technically, a cognate is a word that is related by descent from the same ancestral language, but in general use it also refers to words related by derivation or borrowing, and that have the same or a similar meaning and spelling. A false cognate is a word that seems to be a cognate but is actually not (e.g., bald or fast in German). See my False Cognates glossary at About.com for more.

über- über** (a recent borrowing from German, used in the meaning of ultra- or super- something, as in "übercool" or "übernerd")

U-boat das U-Boot (submarine)

UFO das UFO/Ufo (OO-foh)

ultimatum das Ultimatum - from Latin

ultra- Ultra-/ultra- (prefix) - as in "ultraviolet" (ultraviolett)

umlaut der Umlaut (¨)
Similar to a diaeresis, but not for the same purpose.

un- (also dis-, in- ) un- (prefix)
unclear unklar, inorganic unorganisch, unsorted unsortiert, etc.

UN die UN/die UNO

uniform die Uniform

under unter
underground der Untergrund
underway, enroute unterwegs
underworld die Unterwelt

union (gov.) die Union
(labor) union die Gewerkschaft
A labor union is eine Gewerkschaft. A political union is eine Union.

universal universal
universe das Universum