German edit

Etymology edit

From Middle High German sidelen, from Old High German sidalen, derived from sidila (seat), which is cognate with Old English setl. Related with sitzen (to sit) and hence eventually related with English settle, but not a direct cognate of this latter.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈziːdəln/
  • (file)

Verb edit

siedeln (weak, third-person singular present siedelt, past tense siedelte, past participle gesiedelt, auxiliary haben)

  1. (intransitive) to settle (cultivate hitherto unoccupied areas; create a colony in foreign land)
    Mein Großvater war der erste, der in diesem Sumpfgebiet gesiedelt hat.
    My grandfather was the first to have settled in these wetlands.
  2. (intransitive, of ethnic groups, animals also) to dwell; to nest; without the implication of a colony
    Die Ureinwohner siedelten vor allem entlang der Flussläufe.
    The original inhabitants had their settlements mainly along the rivers.
  3. (transitive, obsolete) Alternative form of ansiedeln.

Usage notes edit

  • As transitive verbs use besiedeln (to settle a place) and ansiedeln (to settle people in a place). The latter is also used reflexively in the general sense of “to move somewhere, settle down”, which the simplex siedeln almost never has.

Conjugation edit

Derived terms edit

Further reading edit

  • siedeln” in Duden online
  • siedeln” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache