hegen
German, verb
hegen is spelled H-E-G-E-N (5 letters) and appears 2.0 times per million words in written German, the 23,884th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Hegen is a German verb meaning “to cherish” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Hegen is a different word: “nurture”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “aufmerksam schützen und versorgen”.
What does hegen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to cherish
hegen und pflegen
- 2
to harbor, to have, to hold (e.g., doubts, a grudge, grievances)
einen Wunsch hegen
noun
- 1
nurture
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. aufmerksam schützen und versorgen 2. in sich tragen; bewusst bewahren
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 hegen
- hegt present singular third-person
- hegte past
- gehegt participle past
- haben auxiliary
- hegend participle present
- hege first-person indicative present
- hegst indicative present second-person
- hegest second-person singular subjunctive
- heget plural second-person subjunctive
- hegten first-person indicative plural
- hegtest indicative preterite second-person
- hegtet indicative plural preterite
- heg imperative second-person singular
- habe gehegt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- haben gehegt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- heg! imperative singular
- hege! imperative singular
- hegt! imperative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to hegen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is hegen in German?
hegen appears 2.0 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).