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Definition 2024


freien

freien

German

Verb

freien (third-person singular simple present freit, past tense freite, past participle gefreit, auxiliary haben)

  1. (archaic or poetic) to marry
  2. (archaic or poetic) to ask for marriage; to propose
  3. (archaic or poetic) to court; to woo
Usage notes
  • Only the derivative Freier remains current, but in a more negative sense (“client of a prostitute”).
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Adjective

freien

  1. inflected form of frei

Luxembourgish

Etymology

From Middle High German frīen, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *frijōną. Cognate with German freien, Dutch vrijen.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈfʀɑɪ̯ən/
  • Rhymes: -ɑɪən

Verb

freien (third-person singular present freit, past participle gefrien, auxiliary verb hunn)

  1. (transitive or intransitive) to court (romantically)

Conjugation

Regular
infinitive freien
participle gefrien
auxiliary hunn
present
indicative
imperative
1st singular freien
2nd singular freis frei
3rd singular freit
1st plural freien
2nd plural freit freit
3rd plural freien
(n) or (nn) indicates the Eifeler Regel.

Related terms