From Middle High German streifen, from Old High German *streifen (in abastreifen > modern abstreifen), from Proto-Germanic *straipijaną, *stripōną (“to touch”), of uncertain ultimate origin. Pokorny derives the word from Proto-Indo-European *ster-, *strē- (“strip, streak”), for which see Strahl (“beam, ray”),[1] while Pfeifer instead takes the word as related to Streifen (“strip”), with semantic linkage "strip, pull off by sliding" > "touch glidingly, brush" > "wander around".[2]
streifen (weak, third-person singular present streift, past tense streifte, past participle gestreift, auxiliary haben)
As indicated in the table below, the verb is originally a weak verb and is exclusively weak in the standard language. However, in colloquial German the irregular past participle gestriffen may be heard.
| infinitive | streifen | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present participle | streifend | ||||
| past participle | gestreift | ||||
| auxiliary | haben | ||||
| indicative | subjunctive | ||||
| singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
| present | ich streife | wir streifen | i | ich streife | wir streifen |
| du streifst | ihr streift | du streifest | ihr streifet | ||
| er streift | sie streifen | er streife | sie streifen | ||
| preterite | ich streifte | wir streiften | ii | ich streifte1 | wir streiften1 |
| du streiftest | ihr streiftet | du streiftest1 | ihr streiftet1 | ||
| er streifte | sie streiften | er streifte1 | sie streiften1 | ||
| imperative | streif (du) streife (du) |
streift (ihr) | |||
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.