beiwohnen

German

Etymology

From Middle High German bīwonen; analyzable as bei + wohnen. At least in part, probably a calque of Latin cohabitāre.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbaɪ̯ˌvoːnən/
  • (file)

Verb

beiwohnen (weak, third-person singular present wohnt bei, past tense wohnte bei, past participle beigewohnt, auxiliary haben)

  1. (formal, intransitive + dative) to attend; to be present at (some gathering or event)
    Ich habe der damaligen Sitzung nicht beigewohnt.
    I did not attend that meeting back then.
  2. (formal, dated, intransitive + dative) to sleep with; to cohabit; to have sexual intercourse with (a woman)
    Viele Kulturen verbieten es, der Ehefrau während ihrer Monatsblutung beizuwohnen.
    Many cultures forbid cohabiting one’s wife during her menstrual period.

Usage notes

  • While sense 2 is now infrequent, it is still familiar enough to preclude that sense 1 be used with personal objects.

Conjugation

Derived terms

Further reading

  • beiwohnen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • beiwohnen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • beiwohnen” in Duden online
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