leiden
German, verb
leiden is spelled L-E-I-D-E-N (6 letters) and appears 48 times per million words in written German, the 1,771st most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Leiden is a German verb meaning “to suffer, to experience pain, sorrow, etc” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Leiden is a different word: “suffering, pain, grief”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “starke psychische oder physische Schmerzen verspüren”.
What does leiden mean in English?
verb
- 1
to suffer, to experience pain, sorrow, etc.
Lerne leiden ohne zu klagen.
- 2
to suffer, bear, endure, undergo, experience (some hardship)
Er litt höllische Qualen.
- 3
to suffer
Die Gefangenen leiden an Unterernährung.
- 4
to like, tolerate, stand
jemanden gut leiden können
noun
- 1
neutersuffering, pain, grief
- 2
neuterdisease
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. starke psychische oder physische Schmerzen verspüren 2. mögen, gern haben 3. Schaden nehmen, negative Folgen spüren
noun: 1. alle vom Begriff des Schmerzes nicht erfassten Beeinträchtigungen des Wohlbefindens, die über ein schlichtes Unbehagen hinausgehen und eine nicht ganz unwesentliche Zeitspanne fortdauern
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 leiden
- leidet present singular third-person
- litt past
- gelitten participle past
- haben auxiliary
- 1 strong
- leidend participle present
- leide first-person indicative present
- leidest indicative present second-person
- litten first-person indicative plural
- litte first-person formal rare
- littest indicative preterite second-person
- littst indicative preterite second-person
- littet indicative plural preterite
- leid imperative second-person singular
- leide! imperative singular
- selten: leid! imperative singular
- leidet! imperative plural
- gelitten haben active infinitive perfect
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to leiden
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is leiden in German?
leiden appears 48 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).