befestigen
German, verb
befestigen is spelled B-E-F-E-S-T-I-G-E-N (10 letters) and appears 2.7 times per million words in written German, the 19,537th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Befestigen is a German verb meaning “to attach, to pin, to fasten, to secure” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Befestigen is a different word: “gerund of befestigen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “an etwas fest anbringen”.
What does befestigen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to attach, to pin, to fasten, to secure
noun
- 1
neutergerund of befestigen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. an etwas fest anbringen 2. einer Sache durch geeignete Maßnahmen Festigkeit verleihen und dadurch so haltbar und stabil machen, dass sie Belastungen standhält 3. beständig machen; wirkungsvoller machen 4. fester, stärker werden; stabil/stabiler werden
verb: 1. (einen Termin, Krankheitszustand) für zutreffend erklären
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 befestigen
- befestigt present singular third-person
- befestigte past
- haben auxiliary
- befestigend participle present
- befestige first-person indicative present
- befestigst indicative present second-person
- befestigest second-person singular subjunctive
- befestiget plural second-person subjunctive
- befestigten first-person indicative plural
- befestigtest indicative preterite second-person
- befestigtet indicative plural preterite
- befestig imperative second-person singular
- habe befestigt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- haben befestigt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- befestige! imperative singular
- befestigt! imperative plural
- befestigt haben active infinitive perfect
- befestigt werden processual-passive infinitive present
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to befestigen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is befestigen in German?
befestigen appears 2.7 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).