vergeben

• IPA^(key): /fərˈɡeːbən/, /fɛr-/, [fɐˈɡeː.bm̩], [fɛɐ̯-], [-bən]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ver‧ge‧ben

From Middle High German vergeben, from Old High German fargeban, from Proto-Germanic *fragebaną. Analyzable as ver- +‎ geben. Cognate with Dutch vergeven, English forgive, Icelandic fyrirgefa.

vergeben (class 5 strong, third-person singular present vergibt, past tense vergab, past participle vergeben, past subjunctive vergäbe, auxiliary haben)

1. (transitive or intransitive) to forgive [with dative ‘someone’ (optional) and accusative ‘for something’]

   Synonym: verzeihen

   Kannst du mir vergeben? ― Can you forgive me?

   Vergib mir meine Sünden! ― Forgive me my sins.

2. (transitive) to assign; to allocate; to give (a job); to give or set (a task); to award (a contract), to give away [with accusative ‘something’ and an (+ accusative) ‘to someone’]

   Wir haben den Auftrag an ein Drittunternehmen vergeben.

   We have awarded the contract to an external company.

• Vergeben implies a greater degree of moral guilt than verzeihen. It is used in the context of sin or crime, or otherwise of severe misbehaviour, such as acts of violence, insult, humiliation, deceit, and the like.
• The noun corresponding to the sense “to forgive” is Vergebung, while that corresponding to the sense “to assign” is Vergabe.

• Vergabe
• Vergeben
• vergeblich
• Vergebung

• vergebens

vergeben

1. past participle of vergeben

vergeben (strong nominative masculine singular vergebener, not comparable)

1. taken; not free
2. (informal) not single: married or in a relationship

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