schiften
German, verb/ˈʃɪftn̩/
schiften is spelled S-C-H-I-F-T-E-N (8 letters) and appears about once in every 39 million words in written German, the 371,567th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Schiften is a German verb meaning “to jibe, gybe (shift a fore-and-aft sail from one side of a sailing vessel to the other)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “auf einem Vorwindkurs die Segelseite wechseln, ohne dabei den Kurs zu ändern”.
What does schiften mean in English?
verb
- 1
to jibe, gybe (shift a fore-and-aft sail from one side of a sailing vessel to the other)
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. auf einem Vorwindkurs die Segelseite wechseln, ohne dabei den Kurs zu ändern 2. Material (Stämme, Säcke, alles, was länglich ist) stapeln, jede Lage um 90° verdreht zu der darunter liegenden Lage; auf diese Weise entsteht ein stabilerer Stapel 3. Grat-, Kehl-, Schifter- und schräge Giebelsparren (immer dort, wo Dachflächen schräg aufeinander treffen) austragen und ausarbeiten
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 schiften
- schiftet present singular third-person
- schiftete past
- geschiftet participle past
- haben auxiliary
- schiftend participle present
- schifte first-person indicative present
- schiftest indicative present second-person
- schifteten first-person indicative plural
- schiftetest indicative preterite second-person
- schiftetet indicative plural preterite
- schift imperative second-person singular
- habe geschiftet first-person indicative multiword-construction
- haben geschiftet first-person indicative multiword-construction
- schifte! imperative singular
- schiftet! imperative plural
- geschiftet haben active infinitive perfect
- geschiftet werden processual-passive infinitive present
- geschiftet worden sein processual-passive infinitive perfect
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce schiften?
- /ˈʃɪftn̩/
- [ˈʃɪftn̩]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is schiften in German?
schiften appears about once in every 39 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).