fechten
German, verb
fechten is spelled F-E-C-H-T-E-N (7 letters) and appears 1.5 times per million words in written German, the 29,531st most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Fechten is a German verb meaning “to fence” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Fechten is a different word: “gerund of fechten; fencing”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “mit Klingen (Schwertern, Degen, Säbeln und so weiter) kämpfen”.
What does fechten mean in English?
verb
- 1
to fence
- 2
to fight
- 3
to beg
noun
- 1
neutergerund of fechten; fencing
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. mit Klingen (Schwertern, Degen, Säbeln und so weiter) kämpfen 2. betteln, um etwas bitten
noun: 1. eine Kampfsportart, bei der zwei Fechter gegeneinander antreten.
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 fechten
- ficht literary present singular
- fechtet colloquial present singular
- focht past
- gefochten participle past
- föchte past subjunctive
- haben auxiliary
- 3 strong
- fechtend participle present
- fechte first-person indicative present
- fichtst indicative literary present
- fechtest colloquial indicative present
- fochten first-person indicative plural
- föchten first-person formal plural
- fochtest indicative preterite second-person
- fochtst indicative preterite second-person
- fochtet indicative plural preterite
- föchtest formal rare second-person
- föchtet formal plural rare
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to fechten
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is fechten in German?
fechten appears 1.5 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).