fressen
See also: Fressen
Catalan edit
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
fressen
German edit
Etymology edit
From Middle High German frezzen, from Old High German frezzan, firezzan, from Proto-West Germanic *fraetan. Cognate with Dutch vreten, English fret, Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (fraitan), Swedish fräta.
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
fressen (class 5 strong, third-person singular present frisst, past tense fraß, past participle gefressen, past subjunctive fräße, auxiliary haben)
- (transitive or intransitive, of an animal) to eat; to feed on; to devour
- (transitive or intransitive, of a person, derogatory) to stuff oneself; to gorge oneself; to eat like a pig
- Erst kommt das Fressen, dann kommt die Moral.
- First comes the stomach, then comes ethics.
- (figurative, chiefly reflexive) to eat away (e.g. metal) [+ durch (object)]
- (figurative, transitive) to consume, to guzzle, to burn (e.g. fuel, money)
- (transitive, colloquial, perfect only) to despise, to have a pet peeve against
- Den hab ich ja gefressen! ― I can’t stand that guy! (literally, “I have eaten that one.”)
Conjugation edit
infinitive | fressen | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
present participle | fressend | ||||
past participle | gefressen | ||||
auxiliary | haben | ||||
indicative | subjunctive | ||||
singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
present | ich fresse | wir fressen | i | ich fresse | wir fressen |
du frisst | ihr fresst | du fressest | ihr fresset | ||
er frisst | sie fressen | er fresse | sie fressen | ||
preterite | ich fraß | wir fraßen | ii | ich fräße1 | wir fräßen1 |
du fraßest du fraßt |
ihr fraßt | du fräßest1 du fräßt1 |
ihr fräßet1 ihr fräßt1 | ||
er fraß | sie fraßen | er fräße1 | sie fräßen1 | ||
imperative | friss (du) | fresst (ihr) |
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Derived terms edit
Derived terms
Related terms edit
Descendants edit
Further reading edit
- “fressen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “fressen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
- “fressen” in Duden online
- “fressen” in OpenThesaurus.de
- Friedrich Kluge (1883) “fressen”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891