fechten
German
editEtymology
editFrom Old High German fehtan (“to fight”), from Proto-West Germanic *fehtan, from Proto-Germanic *fehtaną, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peḱ-.
Cognate to Low German fechten, Dutch vechten, English fight, Danish fægte, Norwegian Bokmål fekte, Norwegian Nynorsk fekta, fekte.
Pronunciation
editVerb
editfechten (class 3 strong, third-person singular present (standard but rare in the vernacular) ficht or (colloquial) fechtet, past tense focht, past participle gefochten, past subjunctive föchte, auxiliary haben)
- (intransitive) to fence
- (intransitive, poetic) to fight
- 1772, Salomon Geßner, Neue Idyllen:
- Einer, der neben mir focht, sah rückwärts, rafft' auf seine Schulter mich, und lief mit mir aus der Schlacht. Ein frommer Ordensmann betete nicht weit auf einem Fels um unsern Sieg: Pflege diesen, Vater, er hat gefochten wie ein Mann!
- One who fought next to me, looked backward, gather'd me up on his shoulder, and ran with me from the battle. A devout man of God prayed not far on a rock for our victory: Look after this one, father, he has fought like a man!
- 1797, August Wilhelm Schlegel, transl., Julius Cäsar[1], translation of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, [Act II, scene iv]:
- Ich hörte wilden Lärm, als föchte man, / Und der Wind bringt vom Kapitol ihn her.
- I heard a bustling rumour, as if one fought, and the wind brings it from the Capitol.
- 1930, “act 1, scene 11”, in Bertolt Brecht (lyrics), Kurt Weil (music), Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny:
- Haltet euch aufrecht, fürchtet euch nicht / Brüder, erlischt auch das irdische Licht / wollt nicht verzagen, / was hilft alles klagen / dem, der gegen Hurrikane ficht.
- Keep upright, do not fear / brothers, even if the earthly light may extinguish / do not give up hope / what help is all lamenting / to him who fights hurricanes.
- (intransitive, cant) to beg
- Synonym: betteln
Usage notes
edit- For the 2nd and 3rd person singular there are two sets of forms: regularized (du fechtest, er fechtet) and traditional (du fichtst, er ficht). Only the traditional forms are standard, and they remain favoured in literary German, but are rare in the vernacular and might even be unintelligible to many less educated speakers.
- Only the traditional forms are used in the sense “to fight”, which is by definition literary.
Conjugation
editinfinitive | fechten | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
present participle | fechtend | ||||
past participle | gefochten | ||||
auxiliary | haben | ||||
indicative | subjunctive | ||||
singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
present | ich fechte | wir fechten | i | ich fechte | wir fechten |
du fichtst1 du fechtest2 |
ihr fechtet | du fechtest | ihr fechtet | ||
er ficht1 er fechtet2 |
sie fechten | er fechte | sie fechten | ||
preterite | ich focht | wir fochten | ii | ich föchte3 | wir föchten3 |
du fochtest du fochtst |
ihr fochtet | du föchtest3 | ihr föchtet3 | ||
er focht | sie fochten | er föchte3 | sie föchten3 | ||
imperative | ficht (du)1 fecht (du) fechte (du) |
fechtet (ihr) |
1Standard but rare in the vernacular.
2Colloquial.
3Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Derived terms
edit- anfechten
- ausfechten
- Fechten (“fencing”)
- Gefecht (“battle”)
Related terms
editDescendants
edit- → Russian: фехтовать (fextovatʹ)
Further reading
editLow German
editEtymology
editFrom Middle Low German vechten, from Old Saxon fehtan, from Proto-West Germanic *fehtan, from Proto-Germanic *fehtaną, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peḱ-.
Cognate with English fight, German fechten, Dutch vechten, West Frisian fjuchte, Danish fegte.
Pronunciation
editVerb
editfechten (past singular fecht or focht, past participle fecht or fochten, auxiliary verb hebben)
Conjugation
editinfinitive | fechten | |
---|---|---|
indicative | present | preterite |
1st person singular | fecht | fecht |
2nd person singular | fechtst | fechtst |
3rd person singular | fecht | fecht |
plural | fecht | fechten |
imperative | present | — |
singular | fecht | |
plural | fecht | |
participle | present | past |
fechten | fecht | |
Note: This conjugation is one of many; neither its grammar nor spelling apply to all dialects. |
infinitive | fechten | |
---|---|---|
indicative | present | preterite |
1st person singular | fecht | focht |
2nd person singular | fechts(t) | fochts(t) |
3rd person singular | fecht(t) | focht |
plural | fechtt, fechten | fochten |
imperative | present | — |
singular | fecht | |
plural | fechtt | |
participle | present | past |
fechten | (e)fochten, gefochten | |
Note: This conjugation is one of many; neither its grammar nor spelling apply to all dialects. |
Synonyms
edit- German terms inherited from Old High German
- German terms derived from Old High German
- German terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- German terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- German 2-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:German/ɛçtn̩
- Rhymes:German/ɛçtn̩/2 syllables
- German lemmas
- German verbs
- German strong verbs
- German class 3 strong verbs
- German verbs using haben as auxiliary
- German intransitive verbs
- German poetic terms
- German terms with quotations
- German cant
- Low German terms inherited from Middle Low German
- Low German terms derived from Middle Low German
- Low German terms inherited from Old Saxon
- Low German terms derived from Old Saxon
- Low German terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- Low German terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- Low German terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Low German terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Low German terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Low German terms with IPA pronunciation
- Low German lemmas
- Low German verbs
- Low German class 3 strong verbs