verteidigen
German, verb
verteidigen is spelled V-E-R-T-E-I-D-I-G-E-N (11 letters) and appears 22 times per million words in written German, the 3,577th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Verteidigen is a German verb meaning “to defend (from attack)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Verteidigen is a different word: “gerund of verteidigen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “einen Angriff abwehren”.
What does verteidigen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to defend (from attack)
- 2
to justify (an opinion, behavior, etc.)
noun
- 1
neutergerund of verteidigen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. einen Angriff abwehren 2. einen Standpunkt begründen, sich oder etwas rechtfertigen 3. vor einem Gericht vertreten
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 verteidigen
- verteidigt present singular third-person
- verteidigte past
- haben auxiliary
- verteidigend participle present
- verteidige first-person indicative present
- verteidigst indicative present second-person
- verteidigest second-person singular subjunctive
- verteidiget plural second-person subjunctive
- verteidigten first-person indicative plural
- verteidigtest indicative preterite second-person
- verteidigtet indicative plural preterite
- verteidig imperative second-person singular
- habe verteidigt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- haben verteidigt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- vertheidigen obsolete
- verteidige! imperative singular
- verteidigt! imperative plural
- verteidigt haben active infinitive perfect
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to verteidigen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is verteidigen in German?
verteidigen appears 22 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).