Wolfgang Pfeifer (3 December 1922 in Leipzig - 9 July 2020 in Berlin) was a German scholar and linguist.
Class National Prize of the GDR for the completion of the German Dictionary.
Of particular scientific importance is the Etymological Dictionary of German, which was compiled under his direction by a collective of eight to ten authors at the Berlin Academy.
The first edition was published in May 1989 and has been updated ever since, most recently online as a component in the Digital Dictionary of the German Language.
Hans Magnus Enzensberger considered him the most important German etymologist after the Grimm Brothers, Hermann Paul and Friedrich Kluge.