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Glite Dictionary
Yekke family

Yekke family

9.9
A Jewish family whose ancestors spoke German and kept German traditions
  • noun
: familia Yekke
  • Many members of the Yekke family maintained German traditions even after emigrating.

Examples

  • A local museum features exhibits on Yekke families and their contributions to the community.

  • The annual reunion brought together dozens of Yekke families from across the country.

  • The Yekke family has a rich cultural heritage.

  • Many Yekke families maintain their traditions.

  • Many members of the Yekke family have a deep connection to their German roots.

  • At the celebration, we learned about the history of the Yekke family and their significant impact on local culture.

  • In our neighborhood, several Yekke families share stories of their ancestors who emigrated from Germany.

Synonyms

kin group
vsYekke family
1 4.5

A group of people who are related by blood or marriage

is a narrower German-speaking Jewish lineage from a specific community

Surface Forms

Yekke family singular
Yekke families plural

Morphology

Yekke + family

The element 'Yekke' is a culture-specific proper name with no transparent lexical meaning for learners (and is listed as not found in the dictionary), so knowing 'family' (people related by blood) does not allow a B1 learner to infer the ethnic/language-specific sense 'German-speaking Jewish descent.' Proper names and community labels are therefore unpredictable and do not compose transparently with 'family.'

Etymology

Yekke family may come from a nickname for German-speaking Jews who were known for being very neat and formal; people said they looked as if they always wore a smart jacket. That's why Yekke family now means 'a Jewish family with German-speaking roots'.