erkaufen
German, verb
erkaufen is spelled E-R-K-A-U-F-E-N (8 letters) and appears 1.1 times per million words in written German, the 36,256th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Erkaufen is a German verb meaning “to gain something through sacrifice” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Erkaufen is a different word: “gerund of erkaufen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “etwas durch Anstrengung oder Opfer erlangen”.
What does erkaufen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to gain something through sacrifice
etwas teuer erkaufen
- 2
datedto gain something by bribery
noun
- 1
neutergerund of erkaufen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. etwas durch Anstrengung oder Opfer erlangen 2. eine Person oder Sache durch Bestechung gewinnen
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 erkaufen
- erkauft present singular third-person
- erkaufte past
- haben auxiliary
- erkaufend participle present
- erkaufe first-person indicative present
- erkaufst indicative present second-person
- erkaufest second-person singular subjunctive
- erkaufet plural second-person subjunctive
- erkauften first-person indicative plural
- erkauftest indicative preterite second-person
- erkauftet indicative plural preterite
- erkauf imperative second-person singular
- habe erkauft first-person indicative multiword-construction
- haben erkauft first-person indicative multiword-construction
- erkaufe! imperative singular
- erkauft! imperative plural
- erkauft haben active infinitive perfect
- erkauft werden processual-passive infinitive present
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How common is erkaufen in German?
erkaufen appears 1.1 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).