hänseln
German, verb
hänseln is spelled H-Ä-N-S-E-L-N (7 letters) and appears about once in every 6 million words in written German, the 125,379th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Hänseln is a German verb meaning “to tease” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Hänseln is a different word: “gerund of hänseln”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “jemand mit einer Mutprobe in eine geschlossene Gesellschaft aufnehmen”.
What does hänseln mean in English?
verb
- 1
to tease
- 2
obsoleteto initiate
noun
- 1
neutergerund of hänseln
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. jemand mit einer Mutprobe in eine geschlossene Gesellschaft aufnehmen 2. jemanden verspotten, sich über jemanden lustig machen
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 hänseln
- hänselt present singular third-person
- hänselte past
- gehänselt participle past
- haben auxiliary
- hänselnd participle present
- hänsle first-person indicative present
- hänsele first-person indicative present
- hänsel first-person indicative present
- hänselst indicative present second-person
- hänselest second-person singular subjunctive
- hänslest second-person singular subjunctive
- hänselet plural second-person subjunctive
- hänslet plural second-person subjunctive
- hänselten first-person indicative plural
- hänseltest indicative preterite second-person
- hänseltet indicative plural preterite
- hänsle! imperative singular
- hänsele! imperative singular
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to hänseln
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is hänseln in German?
hänseln appears about once in every 6 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).