E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
German or Germaine (g soft).
Pertaining to, related to, as cousins-german (first cousins), german to . the subject (bearing on or pertinent to the subject). This word has no connection with German (the nation), but comes from the Latin germa’nus (of the same germ or stock). First cousins have a grandfather or grandmother in common.
1
“Those that are germaine to him, though removed fifty times, shall all come under the hangman.”—Shakespeare: Winter’s Tale, iv. 3.
