Nichtregierungsorganisation

German

Alternative forms

Etymology

From nicht- (non-) +‎ Regierung (government) +‎ -s- +‎ Organisation (organization), a calque of English non-governmental organization.

The translation is imprecise, because English NGO uses “government” in the (especially American) sense “the state and its entire administrative infrastructure” (German Staat), while Regierung means “government” in the narrower sense “body that makes and enforces laws”. The technically more correct form nichtstaatliche Organisation has remained rarer in practice, however.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˌnɪçt.ʁeˈɡiːʁʊŋs.ɔʁɡanizaˌt͡si̯oːn/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: Nicht‧re‧gie‧rungs‧or‧ga‧ni‧sa‧tion

Noun

Nichtregierungsorganisation f (genitive Nichtregierungsorganisation, plural Nichtregierungsorganisationen)

  1. non-governmental organization, NGO
    Synonym: nichtstaatliche Organisation

Declension

Further reading