bergen
German, verb
bergen is spelled B-E-R-G-E-N (6 letters) and appears 20 times per million words in written German, the 3,959th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Bergen is a German verb meaning “to recover, salvage, rescue; with regard to living beings this can mean dead or alive, for the latter retten is the normal word” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Bergen is a different word: “dative plural of Berg”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “transitiv”.
What does bergen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to recover, salvage, rescue; with regard to living beings this can mean dead or alive, for the latter retten is the normal word
Bei der Ausgrabung wurden mehrere antike Fibeln geborgen.
- 2
to contain, hold, shelter, conceal
Der Regenwald birgt bis heute viele Geheimnisse.
- 3
to take in, shorten (a sail)
die Segel bergen
noun
- 1
dative plural of Berg
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. transitiv: 2. in Sicherheit bringen, zum Beispiel die Segel vor einem Sturm oder die Mannschaft von einem Schiff 3. sicher verwahren 4. beinhalten
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 bergen
- birgt present singular third-person
- barg past
- geborgen participle past
- haben auxiliary
- 3 strong
- bergend participle present
- berge first-person indicative present
- birgst indicative present second-person
- bergt indicative plural present
- bergest second-person singular subjunctive
- berget plural second-person subjunctive
- bargen first-person indicative plural
- bärge first-person formal rare
- bürge first-person formal rare
- bärgen first-person formal plural
- bürgen first-person formal plural
- bargst indicative preterite second-person
- bargt indicative plural preterite
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to bergen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is bergen in German?
bergen appears 20 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).