werfen

Etymology

From Middle High German wërfen, from Old High German werfan, from Proto-West Germanic *werpan, from Proto-Germanic *werpaną. Cognate with Old Saxon werpan, Dutch werpen, English warp.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɛrfən/, [ˈvɛʁ-], [ˈvɛɐ̯-], [ˈʋɛʁ-], [ˈʋɛɐ̯-], [-fən], [-fn̩], [-fɱ̍]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

werfen (class 3 strong, third-person singular present wirft, past tense warf, past participle geworfen, past subjunctive würfe, auxiliary haben)

1. (transitive, intransitive) to throw
2. (transitive, programming) to throw (an exception)

   Der Konstruktor mit dem einen Parameter wirft in diesem Falle eine Ausnahme.

   The constructor with this one parameter throws an exception in this case.

3. (transitive) to cast; to project

   einen Schatten werfen ― to cast a shadow

   ein Bild an/auf die Wand werfen ― to project an image on the wall

4. (transitive, intransitive) to give birth (of some animals)

   Die Sau wirft ihre Jungen.

   The sow is birthing her young.

5. (reflexive) to throw oneself (on a bed etc.)

Further reading

• “werfen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “werfen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “werfen” in Duden online
• “werfen” in OpenThesaurus.de
• Friedrich Kluge (1883) “werfen”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891

Alternative forms

• wierfen (dialectal)

Etymology

From Middle High German werfen, from Old High German werfan, from Proto-Germanic *werpaną.

While the verb as such is probably inherited, the form seems to have undergone an irregular development, perhaps under influence of German werfen; the regular development is found in dialectal wierfen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈværfen/, [ˈvæχ.fən]

Verb

werfen (third-person singular present wërft, past participle geworf, auxiliary verb hunn)

1. (intransitive, transitive) to throw; to toss
2. (transitive) to cast; to throw (a glance, look, etc.)

   e Bléck werfen ― to cast a glance; to take a look

3. (reflexive) to throw oneself

Etymology

From Old High German werfan, from Proto-Germanic *werpaną. Akin to Old Saxon werpan, Dutch werpen, Old English weorpan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (before 13^th CE) /ˈwɛrfən/

Verb

wërfen (class 3 strong, third-person singular present wirfet, past tense warf, past participle geworfen, past subjunctive würfe, auxiliary hān)

1. to throw

References

• Benecke, Georg Friedrich, Müller, Wilhelm, Zarncke, Friedrich (1863) “wërfen”, in Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch: mit Benutzung des Nachlasses von Benecke, Stuttgart: S. Hirzel