German

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Etymology

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From Middle High German bīwonen; analyzable as bei +‎ wohnen. At least in part, probably a calque of Latin cohabitāre.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈbaɪ̯ˌvoːnən/
  • Audio:(file)

Verb

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beiwohnen (weak, third-person singular present wohnt bei, past tense wohnte bei, past participle beigewohnt, auxiliary haben)

  1. (formal, intransitive) to attend; to be present [with dative ‘at some gathering or event’]
    Ich habe der damaligen Sitzung nicht beigewohnt.
    I did not attend that meeting back then.
  2. (formal, dated, intransitive) to sleep (with); to cohabit; to have sexual intercourse [with dative ‘with someone’]
    Viele Kulturen verbieten es, der Ehefrau während ihrer Monatsblutung beizuwohnen.
    Many cultures forbid cohabiting with one’s wife during her menstrual period.

Usage notes

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  • While sense 2 is now infrequent, it is still familiar enough to preclude that sense 1 be used with personal objects.

Conjugation

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Derived terms

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Further reading

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  • beiwohnen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • beiwohnen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • beiwohnen” in Duden online