betteln
German, verb
betteln is spelled B-E-T-T-E-L-N (7 letters) and appears 4.5 times per million words in written German, the 13,339th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Betteln is a German verb meaning “to beg (alms), to panhandle” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Betteln is a different word: “gerund of betteln: begging, panhandling”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “inständig um etwas bitten; jemanden anflehen ihm etwas unentgeltlich zu geben (was man unter Umständen zum…”.
What does betteln mean in English?
verb
- 1
to beg (alms), to panhandle
noun
- 1
neutergerund of betteln: begging, panhandling
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
noun: 1. der Akt der Bettelei, also des inständigen Bittens um etwas (beispielsweise Geld, Essen)
verb: 1. inständig um etwas bitten; jemanden anflehen ihm etwas unentgeltlich zu geben (was man unter Umständen zum Überleben) braucht
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 betteln
- bettelt present singular third-person
- bettelte past
- gebettelt participle past
- haben auxiliary
- bettelnd participle present
- bettle first-person indicative present
- bettele first-person indicative present
- bettel first-person indicative present
- bettelst indicative present second-person
- bettelest second-person singular subjunctive
- bettlest second-person singular subjunctive
- bettelet plural second-person subjunctive
- bettlet plural second-person subjunctive
- bettelten first-person indicative plural
- betteltest indicative preterite second-person
- betteltet indicative plural preterite
- Bettelns genitive singular
- bettle! imperative singular
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to betteln
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is betteln in German?
betteln appears 4.5 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).