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lauschen. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
lauschen, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
lauschen in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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German
Etymology
From Middle High German lūschen, akin to Middle Low German lûschen, ultimately related to Proto-West Germanic *hlūd (“loud”), compare English listen.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈlaʊ̯ʃn̩/, /ˈlaʊ̯ʃən/
- Hyphenation: lau‧schen
Verb
lauschen (weak, third-person singular present lauscht, past tense lauschte, past participle gelauscht, auxiliary haben)
- (intransitive) to listen (to wait for a sound)
- (intransitive) to eavesdrop
- 1924, Friedrich Bernhard Störzner, Das weiße Männchen auf dem Kirchberge, in: Reinhardtswalder Sagenbüchlein, Buchhandlung Otto Schmidt, page 11:
Bis gegen 11 Uhr saß der Einsiedler vor der Hütte, schmauchte sein Pfeifchen und lauschte in die stille Nacht hinaus.- Until about 11 o’clock the hermit sat in front of the hut, puffed away at his little pipe and listened out into the silent night.
- (transitive, with dative) to listen to
Lausch meinem Wunsch — wecke die Macht in meinem Herz.- Listen to my wish — awaken the power in my heart.
Conjugation
Conjugation of
lauschen (
weak, auxiliary
haben)
1Permitted officially in Austria; used colloquially throughout the German-speaking area.
2Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Composed forms of
lauschen (
weak, auxiliary
haben)
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
- “lauschen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “lauschen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
- “lauschen” in Duden online
- “lauschen” in OpenThesaurus.de