belegen
German, verb
belegen is spelled B-E-L-E-G-E-N (7 letters) and appears 19 times per million words in written German, the 4,114th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Belegen is a German verb meaning “to cover” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Belegen is a different word: “dative plural of Beleg”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “den Beweis für etwas erbringen”.
What does belegen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to cover
- 2
to fill (a sandwich etc.)
- 3
to document, back, substantiate
- 4
to enroll for; to take (a course)
Meine Mitbewohner belegen fünf Kurse zusammen.
- 5
to bombard
- 6
to reserve (a seat, room etc.); to occupy (a building)
Er hat den Liegestuhl mit einem Badetuch belegt.
- 7
to mate with (a female animal)
noun
- 1
masculinedative plural of Beleg
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. den Beweis für etwas erbringen 2. etwas auf etwas legen 3. etwas mit etwas versehen 4. einen Platz, Rang einnehmen
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 belegen
- belegt present singular third-person
- belegte past
- haben auxiliary
- belegend participle present
- belege first-person indicative present
- belegst indicative present second-person
- belegest second-person singular subjunctive
- beleget plural second-person subjunctive
- belegten first-person indicative plural
- belegtest indicative preterite second-person
- belegtet indicative plural preterite
- beleg imperative second-person singular
- habe belegt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- haben belegt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- belege! imperative singular
- beleg! imperative singular
- belegt! imperative plural
- belegt haben active infinitive perfect
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to belegen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is belegen in German?
belegen appears 19 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).