zusammen

German

Etymology

From Middle High German zesamene, zesamne, zesamen (“together”), from Old High German zisamane (“together”). From zu- (“to”) +‎ sammen (“together”) (in Modern German, sammen is only found in compounds), from Proto-Germanic *samanai (“together”), from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“together, one”). Cognate with Middle English to-samen (“together”). Related to obsolete English sam (“together”), whose earlier form was samen.

Dutch tezamen (“together”) has been formed in a similar fashion, with its contracted form being samen and its ancestral form tsamen. Also cognate with Scots samin (“together”), Danish sammen (“together”), Swedish samman (“together”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tsuˈzamən/, , (standard)
• IPA^(key): /tsəˈzamən/ (colloquial variant)
• IPA^(key): /tsuˈsamɛn/ (Bavaria, Austria)
• IPA^(key): /ˈtsam(ɛn)/ (colloquial in Bavaria, Austria)

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: zu‧sam‧men

Adverb

zusammen

1. together, jointly

   Antonyms: getrennt, gegeneinander

   Zusammen bilden wir ein gutes Team. ― Together we make a good team.

   • 1903, Fanny zu Reventlow, Ellen Olestjerne, in Franziska Gräfin zu Reventlow: Gesammelte Werke, Albert Langen, page 526:

     Trotz all dieser Bitternisse war es noch ein wunderbar schöner Sommer, den die drei Freunde zusammen verlebten.

     Despite all these bitter feelings, it was yet a wonderfully beautiful summer, which the three friends spent together.

Usage notes

• Unlike the English "together", zusammen does not imply "with me" in an invitation. In this situation one might use mit mir instead.

Synonyms

• (all restricted to certain contexts)
  • beieinander
  • gemeinsam
  • miteinander
  • vereint
  • zueinander

Derived terms

Further reading

• “zusammen” in Duden online
• “zusammen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache