unterfangen
German, verb
unterfangen is spelled U-N-T-E-R-F-A-N-G-E-N (11 letters) and appears 2.7 times per million words in written German, the 19,537th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Unterfangen is a German verb meaning “to undertake (usually a difficult task)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Unterfangen is a different word: “undertaking, endeavour”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “unterhalb eines Bauteiles eine Stütze einziehen”.
What does unterfangen mean in English?
verb
- 1
datedto undertake (usually a difficult task)
- 2
datedto dare to, to have the audacity
noun
- 1
neuterundertaking, endeavour
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Vorhaben, das ein Risiko mit sich bringt
verb: 1. unterhalb eines Bauteiles eine Stütze einziehen 2. etwas Schwieriges, oder aber auch etwas Freches wagen
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 unterfangen
- Unterfangens genitive
- unterfängt present singular third-person
- unterfing past
- haben auxiliary
- 7 strong
- unterfangend participle present
- unterfange first-person indicative present
- unterfängst indicative present second-person
- unterfangt indicative plural present
- unterfangest second-person singular subjunctive
- unterfanget plural second-person subjunctive
- unterfingen first-person indicative plural
- unterfinge first-person formal rare
- unterfingst indicative preterite second-person
- unterfingt indicative plural preterite
- unterfingest formal rare second-person
- unterfinget formal plural rare
- unterfang imperative second-person singular
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to unterfangen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is unterfangen in German?
unterfangen appears 2.7 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).