231. Poltergeist, der: A combination of the German verb "poltern" (meaning to rumble) and the noun "Geist" (meaning ghost), a rumbling ghost.
232. Kindergarten, der: A place for children from 2 to 5 years old where they are partly prepared for school. The main purpose of the kindergarten is actually that the parents can go to work and don't have to look after their children. ("Kinder"[plural from "das Kind" meaning child] + "der Garten" [meaning garden] = a garden for children. Kindergartens (or rather "Kindergärten") traditionally also have a house, though).
233. kaputt: simply the German word for something that is broken. It's pretty colloquial.
234. Eisberg, der: Frozen water in form of a block of ice that swims around in the ocean (mainly after breaking off from a glacier). ("das Eis" [ice] + "der Berg" [mountain] = a mountain made of ice).
235. Leitmotif, das : Well, this is a more difficult one, I personally don't even know what this is supposed to be... I guess it's something like a guiding theme or aspect. ("leiten" [verb: to lead] + "das Motiv" [well, uh... motif, maybe?!] = the leading idea of a company, for example). Regarding I don't even know how to define this, you can conclude that this is one of the lesser used German words.
236. Weltanschauung, die: An ideology or a system of belief, like believing in God or fate. ("die Welt" [world, also a German newspaper btw] + "anschauen" [verb, to look at] = a way of viewing the world). This is also rather uncommon.
237. Wunderkind: A very gifted or multi-talented child. ("das Wunder" [miracle] + "das Kind" [child] ).
238. Zeitgeist: A way of living and thinking in a specific period of time. ("die Zeit" [time, also a German newspaper] + "der Geist" [ghost] = the spirit of the time).
239. Waldsterben: Destruction of the forests by clearing woodland. ("der Wald" [forest] + "sterben" [verb, to die] = the dying of the forest).
240. Wanderlust: The wish to start traveling. ("wandern" [verb, to wander] + "die Lust" [passion] = the desire to wander). Germans don't actually use this one, it's rather old-fashioned.
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So, did you know any of those words, and, most important, do you really use them? What other German words in the English language do you use? And do you have German words in your language (apart from English), too?
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