21 December 2025
How do you say Science in German?
Whether it’s chemistry, philosophy, history, or linguistics - Germans call it Wissenschaft. It’s the word that covers all fields of organized, systematic knowledge - not just lab coats and test tubes.
The noun Wissenschaft means science, scholarship, or academic discipline, and it’s one of the 1000 most frequently used nouns in German. You’ll see it on university websites, in policy debates, and in popular science magazines.
It’s a feminine noun, so we say die Wissenschaft.
Pronunciation
Wissenschaft is pronounced [VIS-sen-shahft].
- The W is pronounced like V,
- The double s gives a hissing sound,
- The -schaft ending has sh, a short German a, then ft,
- Stress is on the first syllable: VIS-sen-shaft
It’s a word that sounds structured and intelligent - just like what it represents.
Example sentences:
- Die Wissenschaft spielt eine große Rolle in unserer Gesellschaft.Science plays a big role in our society.
- Er arbeitet an der Universität in der Wissenschaft.He works in academia at the university.
Nuance and usage tips
Here’s where Wissenschaft is slightly broader than English science.
- All systematic disciplines
- Includes not just natural sciences (biology, physics), but also:
- Sozialwissenschaften - social sciences
- Geisteswissenschaften - humanities
- Wirtschaftswissenschaften - economics/business studies
- Sprachwissenschaft - linguistics
- Includes not just natural sciences (biology, physics), but also:
- Academic and research context
- wissenschaftlich arbeiten - to work in a scholarly way
- wissenschaftliche Studie - scientific study
- die Welt der Wissenschaft - the academic world
- Public usage
- Germans often distinguish between die Wissenschaft (the research community) and die Politik (politics), especially in debates around COVID, climate change, or education.
Words contrasted with scientific knowledge in some contexts include
- Aberglaube (superstition),
- Unwissen (ignorance) and
- Meinung (opinion); they are not exact lexical opposites of Wissenschaft.
Grammatical case examples:
- Nominative:Die Wissenschaft sucht nach Erklärungen für Phänomene.Science seeks explanations for phenomena.
- Accusative:Ich interessiere mich sehr für die Wissenschaft.I’m very interested in science.
- Dative:Mit der Wissenschaft entwickelt sich auch die Technik.With science, technology also advances.
- Genitive:Die Fortschritte der Wissenschaft sind enorm.The advances of science are enormous.
Feminine case pattern: die, die, der, der
Word variations and language tidbits
Variation Station:
- Naturwissenschaft - natural science
- Geisteswissenschaft - humanities
- Wissenschaftler(in) - scientist / academic
- Wissenschaftsjournalismus - science journalism
- Wissenschaftssprache - academic language
- Wissenschaftsbetrieb - academic system/scene
Fun cultural note:In German, even philosophy and literary studies fall under Wissenschaft. The idea is: any field with rigorous method and internal logic counts - not just experiments in a lab.
📘 Duden entry: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Wissenschaft
🎥 Learn Wissenschaft and the rest of the top 1000 German nouns in our free online video course:Watch the 1000 German Nouns video course
Alternate translations note:For natural sciences such as physics, chemistry and biology, use Naturwissenschaften. STEM also includes technology, engineering and mathematics, so it is not identical to Naturwissenschaften. But when you’re talking about research, academia, or scholarly disciplines, Wissenschaft is the proper word - and it proudly includes the humanities, too.
Also, you’ll see the -schaft ending in other feminine nouns that describe abstract collective things - like Gesellschaft (society), Freundschaft (friendship), and Landschaft (landscape).
Ready for more German words of the day? Do you know what Weile means? How about Wettbewerb? Find out!
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