beschaffen

See also: Beschaffen

German

Pronunciation

  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -afn̩

Etymology 1

15th century, from be- +‎ schaffen. Formally from Old High German biskaffōn (to create, form) since it also had a weak declension. Middle High German beschaffen is formally related, but had a strong declension. The base lemma schaffen had both a strong and a weak paradigm (which are both continued in modern schaffen).

Verb

beschaffen (weak, third-person singular present beschafft, past tense beschaffte, past participle beschafft, auxiliary haben)

  1. (ditransitive) to purchase, to procure, to obtain, to acquire
    Er kann dir eine neue Identität beschaffen.
    He can provide you with a new identity.
Conjugation
Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Middle High German beschaffen. Possibly a continuation of an unattested Old High German *biskaffan. Obsolete since Early New High German, but the past participle is continued as adjective.

Verb

  1. (obsolete, chiefly religious) to create
    Synonyms: erschaffen, schaffen

Adjective

beschaffen (strong nominative masculine singular beschaffener, not comparable)

  1. made, structured, like (of the properties of something)
    Die Maschine ist aus Leichtmetall beschaffen.The machine is made of light metal.
    Wie ist der Untergrund beschaffen?What is the substrate like?
Declension
Derived terms

Further reading