abfangen
German, verb
abfangen is spelled A-B-F-A-N-G-E-N (8 letters) and appears 1.5 times per million words in written German, the 29,051st most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Abfangen is a German verb meaning “to intercept, to stop (to prevent a strike or projectile from reaching its target)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Abfangen is a different word: “gerund of abfangen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “jemanden oder etwas auf seinem Weg aufhalten”.
What does abfangen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to intercept, to stop (to prevent a strike or projectile from reaching its target)
Die Rakete konnte abgefangen werden.
- 2
to intercept, to catch (to interact with a person while they are on their way to somewhere, chiefly with the intent to distract, stop or get something from them)
- 3
to catch, to pull out of a dive (a plane)
- 4
to catch oneself, to break one's fall (to stop or slow one's fall by holding on to something or bracing against a surface)
noun
- 1
neutergerund of abfangen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. jemanden oder etwas auf seinem Weg aufhalten 2. etwas an der Erreichung seines Ziels hindern 3. jemanden oder etwas abwehren, zurückweisen 4. etwas heimlich erkennen, hören
noun: 1. Vorgang, in dem etwas abgefangen wird
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of abfangen
- fängt ab present singular third-person
- fing ab past
- abgefangen participle past
- haben auxiliary
- 7 strong
- abfangend participle present
- abzufangen infinitive infinitive-zu
- fange ab first-person indicative present
- fangen ab first-person indicative plural
- fängst ab indicative present second-person
- fangt ab indicative plural present
- fangest ab second-person singular subjunctive
- fanget ab plural second-person subjunctive
- fingen ab first-person indicative plural
- finge ab first-person formal rare
- fingst ab indicative preterite second-person
- fingt ab indicative plural preterite
- fingest ab formal rare second-person
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to abfangen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is abfangen in German?
abfangen appears 1.5 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).