Erbe
German, noun
Erbe is spelled E-R-B-E (4 letters) and appears 15 times per million words in written German, the 4,877th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Erbe is a German neuter noun meaning “inheritance; heritage; legacy; bequest (property that is bequeathed and inherited)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). In lower case, erbe is a different word: “first-person singular present”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “Besitz eines Verstorbenen, der an eine lebende Person übertragen werden kann”.
What does Erbe mean in English?
noun
- 1
neuterinheritance; heritage; legacy; bequest (property that is bequeathed and inherited)
- 2
neuterheritage (anything that is passed down from preceding generations, e.g. genes, values, attitudes, traditions, etc.)
noun
- 1
masculineheir, beneficiary
verb
- 1
first-person singular present
- 2
first/third-person singular subjunctive I
- 3
singular imperative
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Besitz eines Verstorbenen, der an eine lebende Person übertragen werden kann 2. Nachwirkungen einer Epoche 3. vom Abgelösten hinterlassene Situation, mit der sich ein Nachfolger befassen muss
noun: 1. Person, der die Güter von Verstorbenen zufallen
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 Erbe
- Erbes genitive
- Erben genitive
- Erbin feminine
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to Erbe
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is Erbe in German?
Erbe appears 15 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).