zerlaufen
German, verb
zerlaufen is spelled Z-E-R-L-A-U-F-E-N (9 letters) and appears about once in every 23 million words in written German, the 278,604th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Zerlaufen is a German verb meaning “to lose form due to melting, to melt away” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Zerlaufen is a different word: “gerund of zerlaufen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “infolge einer Erwärmung an Festigkeit verlieren und zerfließen”.
What does zerlaufen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to lose form due to melting, to melt away
Lassen Sie die Butter in der Pfanne zerlaufen.
- 2
to ruin (shoes) by using them, to wear out
Ich hab meine Turnschuhe bei der Tour zerlaufen.
noun
- 1
neutergerund of zerlaufen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. infolge einer Erwärmung an Festigkeit verlieren und zerfließen
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 zerlaufen
- zerläuft present singular third-person
- zerlief past
- sein auxiliary
- 7 strong
- zerlaufend participle present
- zerlaufe first-person indicative present
- zerläufst indicative present second-person
- zerlauft indicative plural present
- zerlaufest second-person singular subjunctive
- zerlaufet plural second-person subjunctive
- zerliefen first-person indicative plural
- zerliefe first-person formal rare
- zerliefst indicative preterite second-person
- zerlieft indicative plural preterite
- zerliefest formal rare second-person
- zerliefet formal plural rare
- zerlauf imperative second-person singular
- zerlauf! imperative singular
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How common is zerlaufen in German?
zerlaufen appears about once in every 23 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).