nahen
German, verb
nahen is spelled N-A-H-E-N (5 letters) and appears 18 times per million words in written German, the 4,345th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Nahen is a German verb meaning “to approach, to come near” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With an umlaut, nähen is a different word: “to sew”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “sich zu einer Sache bewegen”.
What does nahen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to approach, to come near
Keine Sorge, Rettung naht.
- 2
to approach, to come to (something)
Der Sommer naht sich dem Ende.
verb
- 1
to sew
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Textilteile mit einem Faden verbinden 2. Textilwaren oder bestimmte Teile davon nach der Technik [1] herstellen oder ausbessern 3. Hautwunden mit einem Faden verschließen
verb: 1. sich zu einer Sache bewegen 2. zeitlich an die Gegenwart heranrücken
noun: 1. das Anfertigen von Kleidungsstücken und Gebrauchsgegenständen (meist) aus Stoff und mit Hilfe einer Nadel und eines Fadens
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 nahen
- näht present singular third-person
- nähte past
- genäht participle past
- haben auxiliary
- nähend participle present
- nähe first-person indicative present
- nähst indicative present second-person
- nähest second-person singular subjunctive
- nähet plural second-person subjunctive
- nähten first-person indicative plural
- nähtest indicative preterite second-person
- nähtet indicative plural preterite
- näh imperative second-person singular
- habe genäht first-person indicative multiword-construction
- haben genäht first-person indicative multiword-construction
- nähe! imperative singular
- näht! imperative plural
- genäht haben active infinitive perfect
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to nahen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is nahen in German?
nahen appears 18 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).