zittern
German, verb
zittern is spelled Z-I-T-T-E-R-N (7 letters) and appears 6.3 times per million words in written German, the 10,247th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Zittern is a German verb meaning “to shiver, to tremble, to vibrate” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Zittern is a different word: “gerund of zittern, trembling”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “kleine, unkontrollierte, wiederholte Hin- und Herbewegungen ausführen”.
What does zittern mean in English?
verb
- 1
to shiver, to tremble, to vibrate
noun
- 1
neutergerund of zittern, trembling
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. kleine, unkontrollierte, wiederholte Hin- und Herbewegungen ausführen 2. sich sorgen, Angst um oder vor etwas haben
noun: 1. kleine, unkontrollierte, wiederholte Hin- und Herbewegungen
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 zittern
- zittert present singular third-person
- zitterte past
- gezittert participle past
- haben auxiliary
- zitternd participle present
- zittre first-person indicative present
- zittere first-person indicative present
- zitter first-person indicative present
- zitterst indicative present second-person
- zitterest second-person singular subjunctive
- zittrest second-person singular subjunctive
- zitteret plural second-person subjunctive
- zittret plural second-person subjunctive
- zitterten first-person indicative plural
- zittertest indicative preterite second-person
- zittertet indicative plural preterite
- zittere! imperative singular
- zittert! imperative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to zittern
- trembling
- shudder
- shiver
- shiver
- tremor
- tremor
- tremble
- tremble
- wobble
- quiver
- trepidation
- jitter
- jitter
- oscillate
- frisson
- dither
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is zittern in German?
zittern appears 6.3 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).