verwesen
German
Etymology
From Middle High German verwësen, Old High German *firwësan (“to come to nothing, pass away, destroy”). Cognate with Old Norse visinn (“faded, decayed”), Old English weornian (“to destroy”), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐍅𐌹𐍃𐌰𐌽 (frawisan, “to consume, waste, squander”). Compare Latin virus, Ancient Greek ἰός (iós), Sanskrit विष (viṣa, “poison”).[1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fɛɐ̯ˈveːzn̩/
Audio: (file) - Hyphenation: ver‧we‧sen
Verb
verwesen (weak, third-person singular present verwest, past tense verweste, past participle verwest, auxiliary sein)
- to decay, to decompose
- Synonyms: verfaulen, vermodern, verderben, verrotten, vergammeln
- Das verendete Tier verwest seit Tagen im Wald.
- The dead animal has been decomposing in the forest for days.
- (archaic) to administer, to conduct, to govern, to manage. Refer to the prefix ver- (English for-) + wesen (archaic for to be), meaning to manage things existing in a kingdom.
Conjugation
Conjugation of verwesen (weak, auxiliary sein)
| infinitive | verwesen | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present participle | verwesend | ||||
| past participle | verwest | ||||
| auxiliary | sein | ||||
| indicative | subjunctive | ||||
| singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
| present | ich verwese | wir verwesen | i | ich verwese | wir verwesen |
| du verwest | ihr verwest | du verwesest | ihr verweset | ||
| er verwest | sie verwesen | er verwese | sie verwesen | ||
| preterite | ich verweste | wir verwesten | ii | ich verweste1 | wir verwesten1 |
| du verwestest | ihr verwestet | du verwestest1 | ihr verwestet1 | ||
| er verweste | sie verwesten | er verweste1 | sie verwesten1 | ||
| imperative | verwes (du) verwese (du) |
verwest (ihr) | |||
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Composed forms of verwesen (weak, auxiliary sein)
Derived terms
References
- ^ Friedrich Kluge (1883) “verwesen”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891