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I always assumed the correct term for a screw that is used to make fine adjustments is "Justageschraube".

However, Google disagrees:
enter image description here

Which term is correct?

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I would use Justierschraube, I cannot give reasons for this though. – Baz Oct 9 '12 at 11:40
Notice how google didn't say “Did you mean: …”. – k.stm Oct 9 '12 at 12:21
@K.Stm.: I wasn't really aware that that has significance. – Oliver Salzburg Oct 9 '12 at 12:24
@OliverSalzburg In such cases I intrepret it as: Google didn't try to correct your spelling, but rather suggested to look up a synonymous word with more results. – k.stm Oct 9 '12 at 12:31
Are you using or Google doesn't do this for me, but I am logged in, so results are highly customized. – Phira Oct 9 '12 at 16:59
up vote 7 down vote accepted

A good way to answer such things would be to consider dictionaries and encyclopedias.

It seems both words are used while “Justierschraube” appears to be way more common. I think it is hard to say whether one term is correct or more correct than the other.

Furthermore, both terms are valid compounds, so I doubt it is constructive to care about correctness. Both terms are ‘correct’ because they are both valid compounds. It is very much comparable to the situation with “adjusting screw” as opposed to “adjusment screw”.

However, apparently one would rather say “Justierschraube” as the google results indicate. This might be due to tendency to use “Justierung” over “Justage”. As the former is a nominalization of the verb “justieren”, you'd better take the verb to composite it with another word, yielding “Justierschraube”.

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Having said that, I'd prefer “Justierschraube” because it sounds more natural and is easier to pronounce. – k.stm Oct 9 '12 at 12:07
Dictionaries are likely to fail in these cases. Pons, for example, only lists Stellschraube as translation for adjusting screw. Leo lists twice as much as - For Justageschraube, however, you don't find any reliable references. - There are a lot of screws with subtle differences. I'd rather advise to use images. And my result is, that Pons is the winner. Adjusting screw == (Ein)Stellschraube --- Anyway, that doesn't answer the actual question :( – Em1 Oct 9 '12 at 12:12
@Em1 Yeah, but in this case: It isn't a special name for a screw of a given type, but rather a name for a screw of a given function, viz to adjust. So, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Even if so, one could just look up any differences at a screw-specializing site -– but then it isn't a question about German anymore. All in all, this question is pretty much googleable. One particular dictionary or encyclopedia may fail, but in this case, obvious options of encyclopedias and dictionaries listed both entries, obviously meaning the same. – k.stm Oct 9 '12 at 12:26
People also use “Justierungsschraube”! – k.stm Oct 9 '12 at 13:04
That's what it makes complicated. But you added an important fact to your answer, the "difference" between adjustment and adjusting screw (I found even adjustable screw - This seems to be wrong, anyway). – Em1 Oct 9 '12 at 13:09

Since it is a German word, the only correct answer is:


"Justage" sounds French to me. The word "justieren" is a German verb, meaning "to adjust" in English.

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Wait, do you want to say that proper German words cannot be built using foreign words which are adapted to our language? So "Computerbildschirm" is not a correct word, it must be "Rechnerbildschirm"? – John Smithers Oct 11 '12 at 11:07

I have never used “Justageschraube” or “Justierschraube” and I'm a German natural speaker. The only German word I knew is "Einstellschraube" or shorter "Stellschraube". To describe were I have it from I switch to German, my English is not so good ...

Zum Abisolieren von elektrischen Drähten gibt es eine spezielle Zange, bei der mittels einer "Einstellschraube" die Drahtdicke eingestellt wird, so dass dann nur die Ummantelung aus Plastik durchschnitten, nicht aber der Draht verletzt wird. Ferner gibt es "Einstellschrauben" in der Mechanik, um feste Abstände zwischen zwei Elementen variieren und einhalten zu können.

"Einstellschraube" ist der korrekte Terminus im Deutschen, "Justier(ungs)schraube" eher ein Anglizismus. "Justageschraube" ist von meinem persönlichem Sprachgefühl her völlig daneben, dann schon eher "Justierungsschraube" ...

Anmerkung: wie Teilnehmer 0x6d64 in einem Kommentar bemerkt, wird bei einer Schraubzwinge die Schraube zum fixieren der Schraubzwinge "Spannschraube" genannt. Sie wird solange angezogen, bis die Schraubzwinge die zu fixierenden Teile fest einspannt.

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I just wanted to add my own 2 cents worth because I looked up a few words after reading the other answers.


Justage is actually not a German word. The correct, German term is Justierung:

Justierung w (~; ~en) (lat.) genaue Einstellung (eines Meßgerätes);

Das moderne Fremdwörter Lexikon. osnabuch 1975


First of all, where does Justage come from? As was already pointed out, it sounds French. This is due to the old French suffix -age that was applied to it. Duden also points this out.

When and why someone formed the word Justage is unclear to me at this point.

As mentioned in the definition quoted above, the word Justierung originates from Latin. I'd like to imagine that it stems from iustus or relatives from the same family, which all relate to justice and equality (to my understanding).


While Justage is often considered a synonym for Justierung, it doesn't seem to be an actual, proper, German word. Thus, Justierschraube (or "Justierungsschraube") is the correct term.

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You lost me. "Justage" is listed in the Duden, you even link to that. It is explained there meaning "Justierung". Now can you explain how do you think that it is not a proper German word? Because it's of French origin? – John Smithers Oct 11 '12 at 11:03
@JohnSmithers: The word did not appear in an "old" dictionary, Duden mentions it's constructed from the German term with a French suffix. My reasoning was that it was only later accepted as an alternative term in the German language. – Oliver Salzburg Oct 11 '12 at 12:29
@OliverSalzburg: Even though later accepted, it is a German word, just with a foreign heritage (Fremdwort). – mthomas Oct 11 '12 at 21:17

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