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verwesen

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

German

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Etymology

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From Middle High German verwësen, Old High German *firwësan (to come to nothing, pass away, destroy). Cognate with Old Norse visinn (faded, decayed), Old English weornian (to destroy), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐍅𐌹𐍃𐌰𐌽 (frawisan, to consume, waste, squander). Compare Latin virus, Ancient Greek ἰός (iós), Sanskrit विष (viṣa, poison).[1]

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /fɛɐ̯ˈveːzn̩/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: ver‧we‧sen

Verb

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verwesen (weak, third-person singular present verwest, past tense verweste, past participle verwest, auxiliary sein)

  1. to decay, to decompose
    Synonyms: verfaulen, vermodern, verderben, verrotten, vergammeln
    Das verendete Tier verwest seit Tagen im Wald.
    The dead animal has been decomposing in the forest for days.
  2. (archaic) to administer, to conduct, to govern, to manage. Refer to the prefix ver- (English for-) + wesen (archaic for to be), meaning to manage things existing in a kingdom.

Conjugation

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Derived terms

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References

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  1. ^ Friedrich Kluge (1883) “verwesen”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891

Further reading

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  • verwesen” in Duden online
  • verwesen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache