German

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Etymology

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Spread by Luther; origin unsettled. Probably from Middle Low German hüchelen (whence Danish hykle and Swedish hyckla), which may be akin to Old English hīewian. Older theories are based on Central German origin and relate the word to either hauchen (to aspirate, to whisper) or hocken (to be bowed, to sit). Compare Dutch huichelen (borrowed from German).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈhɔʏ̯çəln/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: heu‧cheln

Verb

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heucheln (weak, third-person singular present heuchelt, past tense heuchelte, past participle geheuchelt, auxiliary haben)

  1. to feign (friendship, morality, etc.); to be hypocritical

Conjugation

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Dutch: huichelen

Further reading

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