umpolen
German, verb
umpolen is spelled U-M-P-O-L-E-N (7 letters) and appears about once in every 14 million words in written German, the 211,221st most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Umpolen is a German verb meaning “to reverse the polarity of” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Umpolen is a different word: “gerund of umpolen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “elektrische oder magnetische Pole vertauschen”.
What does umpolen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to reverse the polarity of
noun
- 1
neutergerund of umpolen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. elektrische oder magnetische Pole vertauschen 2. jemanden vom gegenteiligen Standpunkt überzeugen, zum Gegenteil verändern 3. Dinge ins Gegenteil verkehren, grundlegend verändern
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 umpolen
- polt um present singular third-person
- polte um past
- umgepolt participle past
- haben auxiliary
- umpolend participle present
- umzupolen infinitive infinitive-zu
- pole um first-person indicative present
- polen um first-person indicative plural
- polst um indicative present second-person
- polest um second-person singular subjunctive
- polet um plural second-person subjunctive
- polten um first-person indicative plural
- poltest um indicative preterite second-person
- poltet um indicative plural preterite
- pole um! imperative singular
- polt um! imperative plural
- umgepolt haben active infinitive perfect
- umgepolt werden processual-passive infinitive present
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How common is umpolen in German?
umpolen appears about once in every 14 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).