Verbrechen

See also: verbrechen

German

Etymology

17th century, nominalised infinitive of verbrechen (now in limited use), from Middle High German verbrechen (“to breach, violate”). Equivalent to ver- +‎ brechen (“to break”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fərˈbrɛçən/, /fɛr-/, [fɐˈbʁɛ.çn̩], [fɛɐ̯-], [-çən]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Ver‧bre‧chen

Noun

Verbrechen n (strong, genitive Verbrechens, plural Verbrechen)

1. (countable, law, technical) a felony, indictable offence

   Synonym: schwere Straftat

   Antonym: Vergehen

2. (countable, in common use often) a crime; any criminal offence

   Synonym: Straftat

3. (uncountable, common use) crime (illegal activity as such, at large; criminals collectively)

   Synonyms: Kriminalität, Verbrechertum

Usage notes

• In Germany, Verbrechen is defined as a criminal offence punishable by a minimum penalty of at least one year in prison.
• In Austria and Switzerland, it is defined as a criminal offence punishable by a maximum penalty of at least three years in prison.

Declension

Declension of Verbrechen [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Verbrechen	die	Verbrechen
genitive	eines	des	Verbrechens	der	Verbrechen
dative	einem	dem	Verbrechen	den	Verbrechen
accusative	ein	das	Verbrechen	die	Verbrechen

Antonyms

• Gesetzestreue

Hyponyms

• Betrugsverbrechen, Gelegenheitsverbrechen, Gewohnheitsverbrechen, Gewaltverbrechen, Kapitalverbrechen, Rauschgiftverbrechen, Schwerverbrechen, Schwerstverbrechen, Straßenverbrechen
• das organisierte Verbrechen

Derived terms

• verbrechensartig, verbrechensmäßig

Related terms

• Verbrecher, verbrecherisch, verbrechen
• Verbrechensabnahme, Verbrechensaufklärung, Verbrechensbekämpfung, Verbrechensrate, Verbrechenszunahme

Further reading

• “Verbrechen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Verbrechen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Verbrechen” in Duden online
• Verbrechen on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de