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 [with 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.

Inflection

Pronominal adverbs of gegen

Preposition	gegen
+ wo-	wogegen
+ da-	dagegen
+ hier-	hiergegen

Further reading

• “gegen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Middle High German

Alternative forms

• gagen, jegen
• gein, gēn (contractions)

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)