füttern
German, verb
füttern is spelled F-Ü-T-T-E-R-N (7 letters) and appears 5.6 times per million words in written German, the 11,196th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Füttern is a German verb meaning “to feed (to give food to)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). Without its umlaut, futtern is a different word: “to eat a lot; to guzzle”. With a capital, Füttern is a different word: “gerund of füttern”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “einem Tier Nahrung geben”.
What does füttern mean in English?
verb
- 1
to feed (to give food to)
die Vögel mit Sonnenblumenkernen füttern
verb
- 1
to line (to cover the inner surface of a garment or bag)
verb
- 1
informalto eat a lot; to guzzle
- 2
obsoletealternative form of füttern (“to feed”)
noun
- 1
neutergerund of füttern
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. einem Tier Nahrung geben 2. jemandem, der nicht selbstständig essen kann, die mundgerechte Nahrung zuführen 3. ständig zur Verfügung stellen 4. (einer Maschine, einem Programm) Daten liefern
verb: 1. mit einem Innenstoff (Futter) versehen 2. mit einer Auskleidung (Futter) versehen
verb: 1. reichlich Nahrung zu sich nehmen
noun: 1. die Zuführung von Nahrung, das Geben von Futter
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 füttern
- füttert present singular third-person
- fütterte past
- gefüttert participle past
- haben auxiliary
- fütternd participle present
- füttre first-person indicative present
- füttere first-person indicative present
- fütter first-person indicative present
- fütterst indicative present second-person
- fütterest second-person singular subjunctive
- füttrest second-person singular subjunctive
- fütteret plural second-person subjunctive
- füttret plural second-person subjunctive
- fütterten first-person indicative plural
- füttertest indicative preterite second-person
- füttertet indicative plural preterite
- füttere! imperative singular
- fütter! imperative singular
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to füttern
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is füttern in German?
füttern appears 5.6 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).