Panzer
Panzer refers to an armoured
tank or other vehicle, usually a
Second World War German model. The term is rarely, if ever, used outside this context.
Panzer also describes
armoured forces, as in "
panzer division".
Panzer is a
loanword from
German. The German noun
Panzer (plural:
Panzer) means
armour in the sense of protective equipment such as Plattenpanzer (
plate armour) or Schutzpanzer (protective armour), or armoured forces (today, tank organizations and the tanks themselves). The term gained infamy in English during Germany's successful
Blitzkrieg armoured advances of World War II. It is derived from the
French pancier ("
breastplate", compare English
paunch). German pronunciation (), English . There is a Polish medieval mounted Black Knight, the Pan Czerny, from whom this name and the French word might also derive. This order were a rapid response company of knights noted for their spectacular contrasting black armour and white feather angel wings. There is some likelihood that the German word puns on the black panther, though the medieval heraldic beast only bore a vague resemblance. The word has been
calqued in many languages, such as Swedish "pansarvagn" or Finnish "panssarivaunu" for any tracked armoured fighting vehicle.
Panzer is also an abbreviation of the WWII German designation for tanks,
Panzerkampfwagen ("armoured combat vehicle", abbreviated
PzKpfw), used by the German
Waffen-SS and
Wehrmacht. German panzer models were given designations like
Panzer I, or
Panzer VI Tiger. For a list, see
German armoured fighting vehicles of World War II. "PzKpfW" means literally the same as AFV (armoured fighting vehicle).
Individual variations of these basic marks were given an
Ausführung (version) letter, and consequently the field of Panzer recognition is extremely complex. Great lengths have been gone to explain the differences between a Pz.Kpfw III Ausf. E(U) and a Pz.Kpfw III Ausf. F(U), for example. The word
panzer is occasionally confused with the name of the Pzkpfw V
Panther tank.
Tank destroyers were
Panzerjäger or
Jagdpanzer ("hunting tanks"), self-propelled infantry guns were
Sturmgeschütze ("assault guns"), while self-propelled artillery pieces were usually referred to as
Panzerfeldhaubitze.
*
Panzertruppe*
Panzerfaust*
German AFVs of World War II*
Przemek Kromolowski vel kromi
* In some forms of
coalminers' jargon, a
panzer is a type of underground
conveyor belt for carrying coal, made entirely out of metal.
*
Erik "Panzer" Hagen*
Detailed information about every aspect of the Panzerkampfwagen VI at the Tiger I Information Center
