German

Noun

Fechten n ‎(genitive Fechtens, no plural)

1. gerund of fechten; fencing

Declension

German

Verb

fechten ‎(class 3 strong, third-person singular simple present ficht or fechtet, past tense focht, past participle gefochten, past subjunctive föchte, auxiliary haben)

1. (intransitive) to fence
2. (intransitive, poetic) to fight
   • 1772, Salomon Geßner, Neue Idyllen:

     Einer, der neben mir focht, sah rückwärts, rafft' auf seine Schulter mich, und lief mit mir aus der Schlacht. Ein frommer Ordensmann betete nicht weit auf einem Fels um unsern Sieg: Pflege diesen, Vater, er hat gefochten wie ein Mann!

     “One who fought next to me, looked backward, gather'd me up on his shoulder, and ran with me from the battle. A devout man of God prayed not far on a rock for our victory: Look after this one, father, he has fought like a man!”

   • Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, translation by August Wilhelm Schlegel:

     Ich hörte wilden Lärm, als föchte man, Und der Wind bringt vom Kapitol ihn her.

     “I heard a bustling rumour, as if one fought, and the wind brings it from the Capitol.”

Usage notes

• For the 2nd and 3rd person singular there are two sets of forms: regularized (du fechtest, er fechtet) and traditional (du fichtst, er ficht). Only the traditional forms are standard, and they remain favoured in literary German, but are rare in the vernacular and might even be unintelligible to many less educated speakers.
• Only the traditional forms are used in the sense “to fight”, which is by definition literary.

Conjugation

Derived terms

• anfechten
• ausfechten
• Fechten n "fencing"
• Gefecht n "battle"

Related terms

• Fuchtel
• fuchteln

Low German

Etymology

From Middle Low German vechten, from Old Saxon fehtan, from Proto-Germanic *fehtaną, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peḱ-. Cognate with English fight, German fechten, Dutch vechten, West Frisian fjuchte, Danish fegte.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɛxtn̩/

Verb

fechten (past singular fecht or focht, past participle fecht or fochten, auxiliary verb hebben)

1. to fight, to combat, to wage battle
2. to fence
3. to struggle
4. to brawl

Conjugation

Synonyms

• striden