ertrinken
German, verb
ertrinken is spelled E-R-T-R-I-N-K-E-N (9 letters) and appears 4.3 times per million words in written German, the 13,799th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Ertrinken is a German verb meaning “to drown” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Ertrinken is a different word: “gerund of ertrinken”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “im Wasser untergehen und dadurch zu Tode kommen”.
What does ertrinken mean in English?
verb
- 1
to drown
noun
- 1
neutergerund of ertrinken
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. im Wasser untergehen und dadurch zu Tode kommen 2. in Überfülle erdrückt werden
noun: 1. Tod, bei dem Wasser oder eine andere Flüssigkeit in die Lunge gelangt
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 ertrinken
- ertrinkt present singular third-person
- ertrank past
- ertrunken participle past
- ertränke past subjunctive
- sein auxiliary
- 3 strong
- ertrinkend participle present
- ertrinke first-person indicative present
- ertrinkst indicative present second-person
- ertrinkest second-person singular subjunctive
- ertrinket plural second-person subjunctive
- ertranken first-person indicative plural
- ertränken first-person formal plural
- ertrankst indicative preterite second-person
- ertrankt indicative plural preterite
- ertränkest formal rare second-person
- ertränkst formal rare second-person
- ertränket formal plural rare
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to ertrinken
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is ertrinken in German?
ertrinken appears 4.3 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).