entbinden

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German

Etymology

From Middle High German entbinden, enbinden, from Old High German intbintan, from Proto-Germanic *andabindaną. Cognate with English unbind, Dutch ontbinden.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɛntˈbɪn.dən/
  • Audio:(file)

Verb

entbinden (class 3 strong, third-person singular present entbindet, past tense entband, past participle entbunden, past subjunctive entbände, auxiliary haben)

  1. (transitive, dated, often passive voice) to see a woman through childbirth; to deliver
    Synonym: Geburtshilfe leisten
    Die Frau wurde von einem kleinen Mädchen entbunden.
    The woman was delivered of a little girl.
    Der Arzt hat die Frau entbunden.
    (please add an English translation of this usage example)
    • 1909, Thomas Mann, Königliche Hoheit, page 41; republished as A. Cecil Curtis, transl., Royal Highness, 1916:
      Schüsse wurden gelöst, als auf den verschiedenen Verständigungswegen der Neuzeit in die Residenz die Nachricht gelangte, daß auf Grimmburg die Großherzogin Dorothea zum zweiten Male von einem Prinzen entbunden sei.
      Artillery salvos were fired when the various new-fangled means of communication in the capital spread the news that the Grand Duchess Dorothea had given birth to a prince for the second time at Grimmburg.
  2. (intransitive) to give birth; referring to labour, excluding pregnancy
    Synonym: gebären (includes pregnancy)
    Die Frau hat entbunden.
    The woman has given birth.
  3. (transitive, still somewhat nonstandard) to give birth to a child
    Synonyms: gebären, zur Welt bringen
    Die Frau hat ein kleines Mädchen entbunden.
    The woman has given birth to a little girl.
  4. (transitive) to free (someone) from a duty; to release; to exempt
    Synonyms: befreien, freistellen
    Ich entbinde Sie von Ihrer Schweigepflicht.
    I exempt you from your confidentiality obligations.
  5. (transitive) to dismiss, to discharge
    Synonyms: entheben, entlassen, (euphemistic) freistellen
    Er wurde seines Amtes entbunden.
    He was discharged from his office.

Usage notes

  • With regard to childbirth, the subject of entbinden was originally the doctor or midwife and the object was the mother (sense 1). This use is now dated, the mother being predominantly construed as the subject (sense 2). However, this construction is still usually intransitive (with no object at all). Transitive use with the child as the object is fairly current, but cannot yet be considered perfectly standard (sense 3).

Conjugation

Derived terms

Further reading

  • entbinden” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • entbinden” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • entbinden” in Duden online
  • entbinden” in OpenThesaurus.de