verbrennen
German, verb
verbrennen is spelled V-E-R-B-R-E-N-N-E-N (10 letters) and appears 9.5 times per million words in written German, the 7,292nd most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Verbrennen is a German verb meaning “to burn (to cause to be consumed by fire or flames), to incinerate, to combust” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Verbrennen is a different word: “gerund of verbrennen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “etwas durch Feuer vernichten”.
What does verbrennen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to burn (to cause to be consumed by fire or flames), to incinerate, to combust
Das Feuer war verheerend, da nahezu jede Pflanze im Feuer verbrannte.
- 2
to burn oneself, to suffer a burning
sich den Arm verbrennen
- 3
to scorch
die Taktik der verbrannten Erde
- 4
to burn (to hurt the mouth by an overdose of spices)
- 5
to be burned
Meine Hände waren vom Feuer verbrannt.
noun
- 1
neutergerund of verbrennen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. etwas durch Feuer vernichten 2. einen Menschen (auf einem Scheiterhaufen) durch Feuer exekutieren 3. einen Leichnam im Feuer bestatten 4. durch Feuer zerstört werden
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 verbrennen
- verbrennt present singular third-person
- verbrannte past
- verbrannt participle past
- verbrennte past subjunctive
- haben auxiliary
- sein auxiliary
- haben or sein auxiliary
- verbrennend participle present
- verbrenne first-person indicative present
- verbrennst indicative present second-person
- verbrennest second-person singular subjunctive
- verbrennet plural second-person subjunctive
- verbrannten first-person indicative plural
- verbrennten first-person formal plural
- verbranntest indicative preterite second-person
- verbranntet indicative plural preterite
- verbrenntest formal rare second-person
- verbrenntet formal plural rare
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to verbrennen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is verbrennen in German?
verbrennen appears 9.5 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).