schwärzen
German, verb
schwärzen is spelled S-C-H-W-Ä-R-Z-E-N (9 letters) and appears 52 times per million words in written German, the 1,636th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Schwärzen is a German verb meaning “to blacken” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). On this page, Schwarzen is a different word: “strong genitive/accusative singular”. Without its umlaut, schwarzen is a different word: “strong genitive masculine/neuter singular”. With a capital, Schwärzen is a different word: “gerund of schwärzen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “etwas schwarz färben”.
What does schwärzen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to blacken
noun
- 1
masculinestrong genitive/accusative singular
- 2
masculinestrong dative plural
- 3
masculineweak/mixed genitive/dative/accusative singular
- 4
masculineweak/mixed all-case plural
noun
- 1
femininestrong dative plural
- 2
feminineweak/mixed genitive/dative singular
- 3
feminineweak/mixed all-case plural
adjective
- 1
masculineneuterstrong genitive masculine/neuter singular
- 2
weak/mixed genitive/dative all-gender singular
- 3
masculinestrong/weak/mixed accusative masculine singular
- 4
strong dative plural
- 5
weak/mixed all-case plural
noun
- 1
neutergerund of schwärzen
noun
- 1
feminineplural of Schwärze
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. etwas schwarz färben 2. durch eine meist schwarze Schicht verdecken, schwarz übermalen (und dadurch unlesbar machen)
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 schwärzen
- schwärzt present singular third-person
- schwärzte past
- geschwärzt participle past
- haben auxiliary
- schwärzend participle present
- schwärze first-person indicative present
- schwärzest second-person singular subjunctive
- schwärzet plural second-person subjunctive
- schwärzten first-person indicative plural
- schwärztest indicative preterite second-person
- schwärztet indicative plural preterite
- schwärz imperative second-person singular
- habe geschwärzt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- haben geschwärzt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- schwärze! imperative singular
- schwärz! imperative singular
- schwärzt! imperative plural
- geschwärzt haben active infinitive perfect
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to schwärzen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is schwärzen in German?
schwärzen appears 52 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).