ergreifen
German, verb
ergreifen is spelled E-R-G-R-E-I-F-E-N (9 letters) and appears 7.9 times per million words in written German, the 8,529th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Ergreifen is a German verb meaning “to seize, capture” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Ergreifen is a different word: “gerund of ergreifen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “mit den Händen anfassen, festhalten, nach etwas greifen”.
What does ergreifen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to seize, capture
- 2
to take up (a job, etc.)
noun
- 1
neutergerund of ergreifen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. mit den Händen anfassen, festhalten, nach etwas greifen 2. jemanden gefangen nehmen, festnehmen 3. jemanden innerlich erregen, bewegen; von einem bestimmten Gefühl, einer gewissen Empfindung erfüllt werden
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 ergreifen
- ergreift present singular third-person
- ergriff past
- ergriffen participle past
- haben auxiliary
- 1 strong
- ergreifend participle present
- ergreife first-person indicative present
- ergreifst indicative present second-person
- ergreifest second-person singular subjunctive
- ergreifet plural second-person subjunctive
- ergriffe first-person formal rare
- ergriffst indicative preterite second-person
- ergrifft indicative plural preterite
- ergriffest formal rare second-person
- ergriffet formal plural rare
- ergreif imperative second-person singular
- ergreife! imperative singular
- ergreift! imperative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to ergreifen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is ergreifen in German?
ergreifen appears 7.9 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).