befehligen
German, verb
befehligen is spelled B-E-F-E-H-L-I-G-E-N (10 letters) and appears about once in every 6 million words in written German, the 127,251st most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Befehligen is a German verb meaning “to command [with accusative] (to have command over)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Befehligen is a different word: “gerund of befehligen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “das Sagen (den Befehl, die Befehlsgewalt) über eine Gruppe von Menschen haben”.
What does befehligen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to command [with accusative] (to have command over)
Der König befehligte seine Männer.
noun
- 1
neutergerund of befehligen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. das Sagen (den Befehl, die Befehlsgewalt) über eine Gruppe von Menschen haben
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 befehligen
- befehligt present singular third-person
- befehligte past
- haben auxiliary
- befehligend participle present
- befehlige first-person indicative present
- befehligst indicative present second-person
- befehligest second-person singular subjunctive
- befehliget plural second-person subjunctive
- befehligten first-person indicative plural
- befehligtest indicative preterite second-person
- befehligtet indicative plural preterite
- befehlig imperative second-person singular
- habe befehligt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- haben befehligt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- befehlig! imperative singular
- befehlige! imperative singular
- befehligt! imperative plural
- befehligt haben active infinitive perfect
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How common is befehligen in German?
befehligen appears about once in every 6 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).