# Schmidt

/ˈʃmɪt/ (US)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/schmidt
Updated: 2026-08-15

## Senses

### 1. a surname

noun · CEFR A1

a very common last name from Germany.

For teachers: A common German surname, equivalent to the English name 'Smith'.

- Mr. Schmidt is our new German teacher this year.
- The historian noted that the name Schmidt appears frequently in the local records of the nineteenth-century immigrant community.

### 2. scientific instrument

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

a special type of telescope or camera used in science.

For teachers: An ellipsis for a Schmidt telescope or camera, characterized by a wide field of view and a correcting plate.

- The observatory uses a Schmidt camera to take pictures of the night sky.
- The researcher utilized a wide-field Schmidt telescope to survey the celestial sphere for previously undocumented asteroids.

## Examples

- Mr. Schmidt is our new German teacher.
- The local bakery has been owned by the Schmidt family for three generations.
- In his sociological study, the author uses the name Schmidt as a generic identifier for a typical middle-class resident of a mid-sized German town to illustrate broader demographic trends.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.