opfern
German, verb
opfern is spelled O-P-F-E-R-N (6 letters) and appears 16 times per million words in written German, the 4,698th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Opfern is a German verb meaning “to sacrifice, to give up (for a goal or cause)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Opfern is a different word: “gerund of opfern”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “etwas als Opfer darbringen; etwas einem Gott während einer Zeremonie geben”.
What does opfern mean in English?
verb
- 1
to sacrifice, to give up (for a goal or cause)
- 2
to sacrifice (to a deity)
noun
- 1
neutergerund of opfern
noun
- 1
dative plural of Opfer
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. etwas als Opfer darbringen; etwas einem Gott während einer Zeremonie geben 2. etwas für einen Zweck aufgeben; bewusst den Verlust von etwas zu einem höheren Zweck hinnehmen
noun: 1. die Tätigkeit der Opferung
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 opfern
- opfert present singular third-person
- opferte past
- geopfert participle past
- haben auxiliary
- opfernd participle present
- opfre first-person indicative present
- opfere first-person indicative present
- opfer first-person indicative present
- opferst indicative present second-person
- opferest second-person singular subjunctive
- opfrest second-person singular subjunctive
- opferet plural second-person subjunctive
- opfret plural second-person subjunctive
- opferten first-person indicative plural
- opfertest indicative preterite second-person
- opfertet indicative plural preterite
- opfere! imperative singular
- opfert! imperative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to opfern
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is opfern in German?
opfern appears 16 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).