16th century, possibly inherited from Middle High German *miucheln, *mūcheln, from Old High German *mūhhilōn, iterative of mūhhōn (“to lurk, ambush”), from Proto-Germanic *mūkōną. The earlier existence of the iterative verb is ascertained by derivatives such as Middle High German miucheler, mūcheler, Old High German mūhhilāri (“bandit”). The modern form is either an unattested inheritance or a backformation from those derivatives. Related with English mitch.
meucheln (weak, third-person singular present meuchelt, past tense meuchelte, past participle gemeuchelt, auxiliary haben)
| infinitive | meucheln | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present participle | meuchelnd | ||||
| past participle | gemeuchelt | ||||
| auxiliary | haben | ||||
| indicative | subjunctive | ||||
| singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
| present | ich meuchle ich meuchele ich meuchel |
wir meucheln | i | ich meuchele ich meuchle |
wir meucheln |
| du meuchelst | ihr meuchelt | du meuchelest du meuchlest |
ihr meuchelet ihr meuchlet | ||
| er meuchelt | sie meucheln | er meuchele er meuchle |
sie meucheln | ||
| preterite | ich meuchelte | wir meuchelten | ii | ich meuchelte1 | wir meuchelten1 |
| du meucheltest | ihr meucheltet | du meucheltest1 | ihr meucheltet1 | ||
| er meuchelte | sie meuchelten | er meuchelte1 | sie meuchelten1 | ||
| imperative | meuchle (du) meuchel (du) meuchele (du) |
meuchelt (ihr) | |||
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.