vāci

Etymology
Cognates include 🇨🇬. There are different theories about the origin of this word. Some suggest that it comes from a place name, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, which would originally have referred to some region in Sweden, from which the word was borrowed, probably before the 12th century, since it underwent palatalization ( > ). A 6th-century source mentions a Southeastern Swedish tribe called Vagoth, perhaps from + -goth. There are, however, no Swedish language sources that support the existence of a region of Sweden named Vakya or something similar. For this reason, others have suggested that the word was originally a collective or ethnic term, later reinterpreted as a place name (and from which, and later , could be derived). Its source would be, whence 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬 (< ), 🇨🇬. This stem might have been used to form a word (perhaps ) to designate foreigners, meaning originally something like “those who speak loud, shout (unintelligibly)” — cf. 🇨🇬, or 🇨🇬, from 🇨🇬, from.

Noun

 * 1)  Germans (people from Germany; members of the German people; the German people as a whole)
 * 2)  German; pertaining to Germany and its people
 * 1)  German; pertaining to Germany and its people

Usage notes
The term usually occurs in the genitive plural, used adjectivally. To refer to Germans, is rare or literary, and  is preferred. In the singular, only exists (a presumed singular form  or  is not in use).