brechen
German, verb
brechen is spelled B-R-E-C-H-E-N (7 letters) and appears 20 times per million words in written German, the 3,888th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Brechen is a German verb meaning “to break” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Brechen is a different word: “gerund of brechen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “etwas zerkleinern, durch Kraft in mehrere Stücke zerlegen”.
What does brechen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to break
- 2
to refract
- 3
to vomit
- 4
to fold
- 5
to become broken; to break; to fracture
noun
- 1
neutergerund of brechen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. etwas zerkleinern, durch Kraft in mehrere Stücke zerlegen 2. äußerer Belastung nicht mehr standhalten können 3. (Strahlen) etwas Gerichtetes in einem Winkel ablenken 4. ein (abstraktes) Hindernis zunichte machen
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 brechen
- bricht present singular third-person
- brach past
- gebrochen participle past
- bräche past subjunctive
- haben auxiliary
- sein auxiliary
- 4 strong
- haben or sein auxiliary
- brechend participle present
- breche first-person indicative present
- brichst indicative present second-person
- brecht indicative plural present
- brechest second-person singular subjunctive
- brechet plural second-person subjunctive
- brachen first-person indicative plural
- brächen first-person formal plural
- brachst indicative preterite second-person
- bracht indicative plural preterite
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to brechen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is brechen in German?
brechen 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).