dämpfen
German, verb
dämpfen is spelled D-Ä-M-P-F-E-N (7 letters) and appears 1.5 times per million words in written German, the 29,051st most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Dämpfen is a German verb meaning “to steam, treat with steam” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). Without its umlaut, dampfen is a different word: “to steam (to produce or vent steam)”. With a capital, Dämpfen is a different word: “dative plural of Dampf”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “mithilfe von Dampf garen”.
What does dämpfen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to steam, treat with steam
- 2
to damp (to attenuate or deaden, as vibrations)
verb
- 1
to steam (to produce or vent steam)
- 2
to steam (to travel by means of steam power)
- 3
to vape (to inhale the vapor produced by an electronic cigarette)
noun
- 1
masculinedative plural of Dampf
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Dampf entwickeln, Dampf ausstoßen 2. eine E-Zigarette konsumieren 3. sich mithilfe von Dampftechnik fortbewegen 4. sich mit einem (dampfbetriebenen) Fahrzeug fortbewegen
verb: 1. mithilfe von Dampf garen 2. die Wirkung von etwas mildern, geringer machen 3. bestimmte Gefühle, Emotionen abschwächen, weniger intensiv machen 4. mit Dampf glätten
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 dämpfen
- dämpft present singular third-person
- dämpfte past
- gedämpft participle past
- haben auxiliary
- dämpfend participle present
- dämpfe first-person indicative present
- dämpfst indicative present second-person
- dämpfest second-person singular subjunctive
- dämpfet plural second-person subjunctive
- dämpften first-person indicative plural
- dämpftest indicative preterite second-person
- dämpftet indicative plural preterite
- dämpf imperative second-person singular
- habe gedämpft first-person indicative multiword-construction
- haben gedämpft first-person indicative multiword-construction
- dampfe present
- dampfst present
- dampft present
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to dämpfen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is dämpfen in German?
dämpfen appears 1.5 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).