gegen

See also: gegen-

German

Etymology

Inherited from Middle High German gegen, from Old High German gagan, from Proto-West Germanic *gagin, from Proto-Germanic *gagin. Cognate with Dutch tegen, English against, Icelandic gegn.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈɡe.ɡən/, [ˈɡeː.ɡn̩], [ˈɡeː.ɡŋ̍]
  • audio(file)

Preposition

gegen (+ accusative)

  1. against
    Synonym: wider
    Die Erklärung der Vereinten Nationen über die Beseitigung der Gewalt gegen Frauen.
    The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women.
  2. toward (i.e. directed to someone/something)
  3. toward (i.e. in the direction of)
  4. approximately, around
  5. in exchange for
  6. facing
  7. compare to

Usage notes
  • Like its Middle High German predecessor, gegen was formerly also used with the dative, especially by Upper German writers. Compare entgegen, which still takes dative.

Further reading
  • “gegen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Middle High German

Alternative forms

Etymology

Inherited from Old High German gagan, gagen, gegin.

Preposition

gegen (+ dative, sometimes + accusative)

  1. against

Descendants
  • Alemannic German: gege
  • Cimbrian: ghéghen
  • German: gegen
  • Hunsrik: geghe
  • Yiddish: קעגן (kegn)
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.