gestalten
German, verb
gestalten is spelled G-E-S-T-A-L-T-E-N (9 letters) and appears 36 times per million words in written German, the 2,298th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Gestalten is a German verb meaning “to form, to shape, to create” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Gestalten is a different word: “gerund of gestalten”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “einem Gegenstand oder Prozess eine Form oder ein Konzept geben”.
What does gestalten mean in English?
verb
- 1
to form, to shape, to create
- 2
to organise, to structure, to arrange
noun
- 1
neutergerund of gestalten
noun
- 1
plural of Gestalt
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. einem Gegenstand oder Prozess eine Form oder ein Konzept geben 2. in der Realität ablaufen
noun: 1. Prozess der Gestaltung, (gezielte) Bearbeitung
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 gestalten
- gestaltet present singular third-person
- gestaltete past
- haben auxiliary
- gestaltend participle present
- gestalte first-person indicative present
- gestaltest indicative present second-person
- gestalteten first-person indicative plural
- gestaltetest indicative preterite second-person
- gestaltetet indicative plural preterite
- gestalt imperative second-person singular
- habe gestaltet first-person indicative multiword-construction
- haben gestaltet first-person indicative multiword-construction
- gestalt! imperative singular
- gestalte! imperative singular
- gestaltet! imperative plural
- gestaltet haben active infinitive perfect
- gestaltet werden processual-passive infinitive present
- gestaltet worden sein processual-passive infinitive perfect
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to gestalten
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is gestalten in German?
gestalten appears 36 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).