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🇩🇪German Source WordCode: DE

Bildungsroman

Pronunciation / Transliteration: ˈbɪldʊŋsʁoˌmaːn

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Bildungsroman/ˌbɪl.dʊŋs.roʊˈmɑːn/
nounCEFR C1 (Advanced)Top #14500 frequency
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🇩🇪 Example Sentence in German:

"Goethes Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre ist der archetypische Bildungsroman."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A novel that deals with the formative years, moral development, and psychological growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood.

    "Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre is considered a classic nineteenth-century bildungsroman."
  2. 2

    A story or narrative focusing on personal transformation and coming-of-age experiences.

    "The film serves as a modern cinematic bildungsroman about an aspiring artist finding her voice."
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Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Borrowed from German in the early 20th century, the term combines Bilding (education, shaping, or formation) and Roman (novel). Originally coined by the philologist Karl Morgenstern, it entered English literary criticism to describe narrative works that focus on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood.

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