umschreiben
German, verb
umschreiben is spelled U-M-S-C-H-R-E-I-B-E-N (11 letters) and appears 1.7 times per million words in written German, the 27,235th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Umschreiben is a German verb meaning “to rewrite (modify a text)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Umschreiben is a different word: “gerund of umschreiben”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “mit anderen Worten wiedergeben”.
What does umschreiben mean in English?
verb
- 1
to rewrite (modify a text)
- 2
to transcribe; to transliterate (convert to another script)
- 3
to make over; to sign over (officially give property to someone else)
verb
- 1
to try to express or explain in words; to define; to verbalise
- 2
to state (something) in such a way as to avoid something; to paraphrase; to use circumlocution
einen heiklen Punkt geschickt umschreiben
noun
- 1
neutergerund of umschreiben
noun
- 1
neutergerund of umschreiben
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. mit anderen Worten wiedergeben 2. ein geeignetes Vieleck, insbesondere ein Dreieck, mit einem Kreis (Umkreis) so einschließen, dass alle Eckpunkte auf der Kreislinie liegen
verb: 1. etwas Geschriebenes nochmals bearbeiten 2. etwas auf jemand anderen übertragen
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 umschreiben
- schreibt um present singular third-person
- schrieb um past
- umgeschrieben participle past
- haben auxiliary
- 1 strong
- umschreibend participle present
- umzuschreiben infinitive infinitive-zu
- schreibe um first-person indicative present
- schreiben um first-person indicative plural
- schreibst um indicative present second-person
- schreibest um second-person singular subjunctive
- schreibet um plural second-person subjunctive
- schrieben um first-person indicative plural
- schriebe um first-person formal rare
- schriebst um indicative preterite second-person
- schriebt um indicative plural preterite
- schriebest um formal rare second-person
- schriebet um formal plural rare
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to umschreiben
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is umschreiben in German?
umschreiben appears 1.7 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).