ersterben
German, verb[ɛɐ̯ˈʃtɛʁbn̩]
ersterben is spelled E-R-S-T-E-R-B-E-N (9 letters) and appears about once in every 35 million words in written German, the 348,070th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Ersterben is a German verb meaning “to die” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “aufhören”.
What does ersterben mean in English?
verb
- 1
rareto die
- 2
to die away, to gradually stop
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. aufhören 2. vergehen, sterben
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 ersterben
- erstirbt present singular third-person
- erstarb past
- erstorben participle past
- erstürbe past subjunctive
- sein auxiliary
- 3 strong
- ersterbend participle present
- ersterbe first-person indicative present
- erstirbst indicative present second-person
- ersterbt indicative plural present
- ersterbest second-person singular subjunctive
- ersterbet plural second-person subjunctive
- erstarben first-person indicative plural
- erstürben first-person formal plural
- erstarbst indicative preterite second-person
- erstarbt indicative plural preterite
- erstürbest formal rare second-person
- erstürbst formal rare second-person
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce ersterben?
- [ɛɐ̯ˈʃtɛʁbn̩]
- [ɛɐ̯ˈʃtɛʁbm̩]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is ersterben in German?
ersterben appears about once in every 35 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).