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antreten

German, verb

antreten is spelled A-N-T-R-E-T-E-N (8 letters) and appears 12 times per million words in written German, the 5,929th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Antreten is a German verb meaning “to line up; to stand for a muster or report” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Antreten is a different word: “muster; roll call”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “etwas beginnen”.

What does antreten mean in English?

verb

  1. 1

    to line up; to stand for a muster or report

  2. 2

    to compete; to run

  3. 3

    to begin (a duty or task, also a voyage); to take (office); to accept (an inheritance)

  4. 4

    to kick against (a device or machine) to start it; to kick start (a motorcycle)

    Er hat das Licht mit dem Fuß angetreten.

  5. 5

    to tread down (soil)

noun

as Antreten
  1. 1

    neutergerund of antreten

  2. 2

    neutermuster; roll call

Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How German dictionaries define it

verb: 1. etwas beginnen 2. sich positionieren, zur Wahl stellen, sich etwas entgegenstellen 3. mit den Füßen bearbeiten, damit der Boden fest wird 4. erscheinen sich in einer bestimmten Ordnung präsentieren oder aufstellen

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 antreten

  • tritt an present singular third-person
  • trat an past
  • angetreten participle past
  • träte an past subjunctive
  • haben auxiliary
  • sein auxiliary
  • 5 strong
  • haben or sein auxiliary
  • antretend participle present
  • anzutreten infinitive infinitive-zu
  • trete an first-person indicative present
  • treten an first-person indicative plural
  • trittst an indicative present second-person
  • tretet an indicative plural present
  • tretest an second-person singular subjunctive
  • traten an first-person indicative plural
  • träten an first-person formal plural
  • tratest an indicative preterite second-person

Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).

English words that translate to antreten

Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.

How common is antreten in German?

antreten appears 12 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).

What to look up after antreten