begeben
German, verb
begeben is spelled B-E-G-E-B-E-N (7 letters) and appears 11 times per million words in written German, the 6,647th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Begeben is a German verb meaning “to go; to make one's way; to repair” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Begeben is a different word: “gerund of begeben”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “geschehen, sich ereignen”.
What does begeben mean in English?
verb
- 1
to go; to make one's way; to repair
Er begab sich auf den Heimweg.
- 2
to happen
Und es begab sich zu jener Zeit, dass ....
- 3
to issue
Die XY AG hat eine Anleihe begeben.
- 4
to voluntarily renounce or relinquish
sich eines Anspruchs begeben
noun
- 1
neutergerund of begeben
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. geschehen, sich ereignen 2. einen Ort aufsuchen 3. sich in einen Zustand versetzen 4. eine Tätigkeit aufnehmen
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 begeben
- begibt present singular third-person
- begab past
- begäbe past subjunctive
- haben auxiliary
- 5 strong
- begebend participle present
- begebe first-person indicative present
- begibst indicative present second-person
- begebt indicative plural present
- begebest second-person singular subjunctive
- begebet plural second-person subjunctive
- begaben first-person indicative plural
- begäben first-person formal plural
- begabst indicative preterite second-person
- begabt indicative plural preterite
- begäbest formal rare second-person
- begäbst formal rare second-person
- begäbet formal plural rare
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to begeben
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is begeben in German?
begeben appears 11 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).