See also: wagen, Wagen, and Wägen

German edit

Etymology edit

From Middle High German wegen, from Old High German wegan.[1] Doublet of wiegen. Compare Dutch wegen, English weigh, Danish veje, Swedish väga.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /vɛːɡən/, /vɛːɡn̩/ (standard; used naturally in western Germany and Switzerland)
  • (file)
  • (file)
  • IPA(key): /veːɡən/, /veːɡn̩/ (overall more common; particularly northern and eastern regions)
  • Hyphenation: wä‧gen

Verb edit

wägen (class 4 strong, third-person singular present wägt, past tense wog, past participle gewogen, past subjunctive wöge, auxiliary haben)

  1. (literary) to weigh
    Synonym: wiegen
    Für das Experiment wägt die Laborantin die chemischen Substanzen auf Mikrogramm genau.
    For the experiment, the laboratory assistant weighs the chemical substances to the nearest microgram.
  2. to ponder
    Synonyms: bedenken, überlegen
    Erst wägen, dann wagen!
    Look before you leap!
    Aber heute, dies hat sich geändert, wägt auch der einfache Beamte seine Worte.
    (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Conjugation edit

Derived terms edit

Related terms edit

References edit

  1. ^ Friedrich Kluge (1989) “wägen”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the German Language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN

Further reading edit

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