German

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Etymology

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From Middle High German begegenen, begagenen, from Old High German bigaganen, with prefix from Proto-West Germanic *gaginijan, from Proto-Germanic *gaginjaną; equivalent to be- +‎ gegnen (encounter) +‎ -en. Cognate with Dutch bejegenen.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /bəˈɡeː.ɡnən/ (prescriptive standard)
  • IPA(key): /bəˈɡeːk.nən/ (most common)
  • IPA(key): /beˈɡ̥eːɡ̥nɛn/ (Austria)
  • IPA(key): /bəˈɡeːç.nən/ (northern and central Germany; now chiefly colloquial)
  • Audio:(file)

Verb

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begegnen (weak, third-person singular present begegnet, past tense begegnete, past participle begegnet, auxiliary sein) (intransitive) [with dative ‘someone/something’]

  1. meet, to encounter, to come across [with dative ‘someone/something’]
    Ich bin dem Lehrer in der Pause begegnet.I encountered/met the teacher during the break.
  2. to face, to confront [with dative ‘someone/something’]
    Synonym: entgegentreten
  3. to counter, to respond to [with dative ‘fate,danger, etc.’]
  4. to handle [with dative ‘bad news, bad prospects, etc.’]
    Synonyms: entgegenwirken, reagieren

Conjugation

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Derived terms

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Further reading

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  • begegnen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • begegnen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • begegnen” in Duden online
  • begegnen” in OpenThesaurus.de