fasten
German, verb
fasten is spelled F-A-S-T-E-N (6 letters) and appears 3.7 times per million words in written German, the 15,332nd most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Fasten is a German verb meaning “to fast” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a first/third-person plural preterite of fasen. With a capital, Fasten is a different word: “fasting”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “(aus körperlichen oder religiösen Gründen) für eine bestimmte Zeit auf alle oder gewisse Nahrung verzichten”.
What does fasten mean in English?
verb
- 1
to fast
verb
- 1
first/third-person plural preterite
- 2
first/third-person plural subjunctive II
noun
- 1
neuterfasting
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. (aus körperlichen oder religiösen Gründen) für eine bestimmte Zeit auf alle oder gewisse Nahrung verzichten
noun: 1. der freiwillige Verzicht auf Nahrung, häufig in religiösem oder esoterischem Kontext
noun: 1. Fastenzeit vor Ostern im Christentum (vor allem im Katholizismus)
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 fasten
- fastet present singular third-person
- fastete past
- gefastet participle past
- haben auxiliary
- fastend participle present
- faste first-person indicative present
- fastest indicative present second-person
- fasteten first-person indicative plural
- fastetest indicative preterite second-person
- fastetet indicative plural preterite
- fast imperative second-person singular
- habe gefastet first-person indicative multiword-construction
- haben gefastet first-person indicative multiword-construction
- fast! imperative singular
- faste! imperative singular
- fastet! imperative plural
- gefastet haben active infinitive perfect
- zu fasten active extended infinitive
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to fasten
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is fasten in German?
fasten appears 3.7 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).