scheitern

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See also: Scheitern

German

Etymology

Verbal formation from Middle High German schīt,[1] synchronically analyzed as Scheiter (plural of Scheit (log, stick of firewood)) +‎ -n (verbal suffix). The modern sense of "to fail" is derived from figurative usage of the verb as "to fall to pieces (logs)" > "to fail" (DWDS).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈʃaɪ̯tɐn/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Audio:(file)

Verb

scheitern (weak, third-person singular present scheitert, past tense scheiterte, past participle gescheitert, auxiliary sein)

  1. (intransitive) to fail, to conclude unsuccessfully
    Synonyms: missglücken; missraten; (Switzerland) fehlen
    Antonyms: gelingen, glücken
    Warum ist das Projekt gescheitert?
    Why did the project fail?
  2. to founder

Conjugation

Derived terms

References

  1. ^ Friedrich Kluge (1883) “scheitern”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891

Further reading

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