wagen
German, verb
wagen is spelled W-A-G-E-N (5 letters) and appears 69 times per million words in written German, the 1,232nd most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Wagen is a German verb meaning “to dare (to do something, despite possible risks)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With an umlaut, wägen is a different word: “to weigh”. With a capital, Wagen is a different word: “a car, an automobile, a vehicle”. On this page, Wägen is a different word: “plural of Wagen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “sich trauen, etwas zu tun”.
What does wagen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to dare (to do something, despite possible risks)
einen Versuch wagen
- 2
to dare to go, to venture (despite some perceived danger)
Wir haben uns in die Höhle gewagt.
- 3
archaicto risk (one's life, etc.)
verb
- 1
to weigh
- 2
to ponder
noun
- 1
masculinea car, an automobile, a vehicle
- 2
masculinea railroad car
- 3
masculinea wagon, a cart (drawn by a person, by horses, by oxen, etc)
- 4
masculineDipper: either the Großer Wagen (“Ursa Major”) or Kleiner Wagen (“Ursa Minor”)
noun
- 1
Austriamasculineplural of Wagen
noun
- 1
neutergerund of wägen
noun
- 1
neutergerund of wagen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
noun: 1. einachsiges oder mehrachsiges Fahrzeug zum Transport beliebiger Dinge, mit Muskelkraft bewegt 2. ein Auto, Automobil 3. ein Sternbild 4. Schienenfahrzeug, das entweder von einer Lok gezogen wird oder einen eigenen Antrieb besitzt
verb: 1. sich trauen, etwas zu tun
verb: 1. das Gewicht von etwas mit einer Waage bestimmen 2. die Vor- und Nachteile betrachten, bevor man eine Entscheidung trifft
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 wagen
- wägt present singular third-person
- wog past
- gewogen participle past
- wöge past subjunctive
- haben auxiliary
- 4 strong
- wägend participle present
- wäge first-person indicative present
- wägst indicative present second-person
- wägest second-person singular subjunctive
- wäget plural second-person subjunctive
- wogen first-person indicative plural
- wögen first-person formal plural
- wogst indicative preterite second-person
- wogt indicative plural preterite
- wögest formal rare second-person
- wögst formal rare second-person
- wöget formal plural rare
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to wagen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is wagen in German?
wagen appears 69 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).