Europäische

Europäische is the feminine singular inflection of the German adjective europäisch, meaning "European." It appears when the adjective modifies a feminine noun in the singular, as in eine europäische Stadt or europäische Kultur. In ordinary prose, the lowercase form europäisch is common, while the capitalized form arises when the adjective is part of a fixed proper name or is nominalized.

In proper names and official terms, the word is often capitalized as Europäische. For example, Europäische Union and das Europäische Parlament are standard spellings for institutions within the European Union. In these contexts the word functions as part of a proper noun and is treated as a name rather than a ordinary descriptive adjective.

Etymology and scope: Europäische derives from Europe, through the German adjective formation involving the suffix -isch, with roots tracing back to the Greek name Europa. It is used across politics, geography, culture, and history to denote things related to Europe—regions, languages, policies, or cultural phenomena. The form also appears in nominalized phrases such as das Europäische (meaning “the European [concept]” or “Europe as a concept”), where the adjective is treated as a noun and capitalized.

Related terms include europäisch (the base adjective), Europäer/ Europäerin (a European person), and Europe itself. The term commonly appears in discourse about European integration, cross-border cooperation, and continental identity, reflecting both linguistic usage and regional discourse.