mensch
German, pronoun
mensch is spelled M-E-N-S-C-H (6 letters) and appears 162 times per million words in written German, the 537th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Mensch is a German pronoun meaning “one, they (indefinite third-person singular pronoun)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Mensch is a different word: “human, human being, person, man”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “irgendeiner, irgendeine; vergleiche man und frau”.
What does mensch mean in English?
pronoun
- 1
informalrareslangone, they (indefinite third-person singular pronoun)
noun
- 1
masculinehuman, human being, person, man
noun
- 1
Austriaderogatoryneuterwoman
interjection
- 1
man! rah!
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Lebewesen; Spezies, der Klasse der Säugetiere angehörend, die sich durch folgende besondere Eigenschaften auszeichnet: aufrechter Gang, Sprache, Erfindertum, Vorausdenken und Nachahmung 2. [1] als einzelnes Individuum
noun: 1. junge Frau, Magd oder Jungfrau
interjection: 1. Ausdruck der Verwunderung, Verärgerung, des Schreckes; Aufforderung an einen Mitmenschen, menschlich zu handeln
pronoun: 1. irgendeiner, irgendeine; vergleiche man und frau
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 mensch
- Menschen genitive
- Menschchen diminutive neuter
- Menschlein diminutive neuter
- Menschin feminine
- Mensches genitive
- Menschs genitive
- Menscher plural
- Mensche dative singular
- Menschern dative definite plural
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to mensch
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is mensch in German?
mensch appears 162 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).