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heißen. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
heißen, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
heißen in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
heißen you have here. The definition of the word
heißen will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
heißen, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
German
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle High German heizen, from Old High German heizzan, from Proto-West Germanic *haitan, from Proto-Germanic *haitaną.
Cognates
Cognate with
Bavarian haßn,
hoaßn,
Yiddish הייסן (heysn),
Dutch heten,
Low German heten,
heiten, archaic
English hote,
hight (“to name; to be named”),
Old Norse heita,
Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (haitan). Compare also with
English hest,
behest.
Verb
heißen (class 7 strong, third-person singular present heißt, past tense hieß, past participle geheißen, auxiliary haben)
- (copulative) to have a name; to be named; to be called; but implying that one “owns” this name, not necessarily that one goes by it
- Wie heißt du? ― What is your name?
- Ich heiße ... ― I’m called ...
Ich werde Lutz genannt, aber ich heiße Ludger.- They call me Lutz, but my name is Ludger.
- (intransitive or transitive) to mean, to signify; to have a meaning
- Synonym: bedeuten
Das heißt, dass wir nur noch wenig Zeit haben.- This means that we have but little time left.
Was [or: Wie] heißt „Auto“ auf Englisch?- What is ‘Auto’ in English?
- (impersonal) to say, to be said; to go, run (like)
- Es heißt, dass ... ― It is said that ...; They say that ...
- (transitive, archaic except in fixed expressions) to call (someone something)
- Synonym: nennen
- Er hat mich einen Idioten geheißen. ― He called me an idiot.
- Ich heiße Sie herzlich willkommen! ― I welcome you cordially! (literally, “I call you cordially welcome!”)
- (transitive, archaic) to order, to direct, to call to do something
- Synonyms: anweisen, auffordern, aufrufen, befehlen, sagen
- Ich habe ihn hereinkommen heißen. ― I have told him to come inside.
- Sie hieß ihn aufrecht (zu) stehen. ― She ordered him to stand upright.
Usage notes
Conjugation
Conjugation of
heißen (class 7
strong, auxiliary
haben)
1This form and alternative in würde both found.
Composed forms of
heißen (class 7
strong, auxiliary
haben)
Derived terms
Etymology 2
Adjective
heißen
- inflection of heiß:
- strong genitive masculine/neuter singular
- weak/mixed genitive/dative all-gender singular
- strong/weak/mixed accusative masculine singular
- strong dative plural
- weak/mixed all-case plural
Further reading