Polyglot Dictionary

ersinnen

/ɛɐ̯ˈzɪnən/

verb C1

der (masc.) die (fem.) das (neut.)

Underline = a spelling pattern that usually signals that gender.

V Register Neutral Era Current Frequency Academic Domain General Tone Neutral

Forms

present
ersinnt
past
ersann
perfect
hat ersonnen

Meaning

  1. to devise

    Built from er- ((get)) + sinnen (to ponder).

V Category Action Concreteness Concrete Agency Voluntary Duration Durative Transitivity Transitive

Made of

  • er- (get)
  • sinnen to ponder

Similar words

erfinden

Erfinden is the everyday word for "to invent"; ersinnen is more literary, "to devise" or dream up something clever.

Similar in other languages

Spanish

idear

idear is the Spanish word for the same thing — both mean "to devise."

Spanish

ingeniar

ingeniar is the Spanish word for the same thing — both mean "to devise."

Practice

1 What does ersinnen mean?

2 Fill the gap: Er ___ einen klugen Plan.

3 Which fingerprint chart matches ersinnen?

verbinseparablecompound

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