germane

Advancedzipf 2.33

Pronunciation

/dʒɜːˈmeɪn/(jur-MAYN)

Part of speech

adjectiveformal

Chinese

有密切关系的；切题的

Definition

Relevant and applicable to the matter at hand.

Word family

  • (no major derivatives)

Collocations

  • germane to
  • germane point
  • germane to the discussion
  • not germane

Examples

  1. 1.Your comment is interesting but not germane to the topic at hand. (not relevant)
  2. 2.She raised several points germane to the budget debate. (directly relevant)

Synonyms

  • relevant/ˈrɛləvənt/— connected to the topic, general
  • pertinent/ˈpɜːtɪnənt/— directly related, formal
  • applicable/ˈæplɪkəbl/— can be applied

Etymology

from Latin "germanus" = genuine, of the same parents — closely related, of the same family as the topic