wehren

See also: Wehren

German

Etymology

From Middle High German weren, from Old High German werien, from Proto-West Germanic *warjan, from Proto-Germanic *warjaną.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [veːɐ̯n], [ˈveːʁən]
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -eːʀən
  • Hyphenation: weh‧ren

Verb

wehren (weak, third-person singular present wehrt, past tense wehrte, past participle gewehrt, auxiliary haben)

  1. (reflexive) to defend oneself [with gegen (+ accusative) ‘against someone/something’]
    sich gegen Vorwürfe wehrento defend oneself against accusations
    Ich wollte mich doch nur wehren.I only tried to defend myself.
  2. (archaic) to prevent the spread of something, to fight [with dative]
    Synonym: bekämpfen
    Wehret den Anfängen!
    Do not let it take hold! / Nip it in the bud!
    (literally, “Fight the beginnings!”)
  3. (obsolete, transitive) to deny, to prevent someone from doing something
    Synonym: verwehren

Conjugation

Derived terms

Further reading

  • wehren” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • wehren” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • wehren” in Duden online
  • wehren” in OpenThesaurus.de