bemächtigen
German, verb/bəˈmɛçtɪɡən/
bemächtigen is spelled B-E-M-Ä-C-H-T-I-G-E-N (11 letters) and appears about once in every 3 million words in written German, the 81,387th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Bemächtigen is a German verb meaning “to seize hold” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “mit Vorsatz, Gewalt (Macht), auch gegen Widerstand, an sich nehmen”.
What does bemächtigen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to seize hold
Eine Kultur der Gewalt bemächtigt sich des Landes.
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. mit Vorsatz, Gewalt (Macht), auch gegen Widerstand, an sich nehmen 2. von einer Person Besitz ergreifen, spürbar sein
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 bemächtigen
- bemächtigt present singular third-person
- bemächtigte past
- haben auxiliary
- bemächtigend participle present
- bemächtige first-person indicative present
- bemächtigst indicative present second-person
- bemächtigest second-person singular subjunctive
- bemächtiget plural second-person subjunctive
- bemächtigten first-person indicative plural
- bemächtigtest indicative preterite second-person
- bemächtigtet indicative plural preterite
- bemächtig imperative second-person singular
- habe bemächtigt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- haben bemächtigt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- bemächtig! imperative singular
- bemächtige! imperative singular
- bemächtigt! imperative plural
- sich bemächtigen infinitive present not-extended
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce bemächtigen?
- /bəˈmɛçtɪɡən/
- [bəˈmɛçtɪɡn̩]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is bemächtigen in German?
bemächtigen appears about once in every 3 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).