zwingen

Etymology

From Middle High German twingen, from Old High German dwingan, from Proto-Germanic *þwinganą, *þwinhaną.^[1]

Cognates include Dutch dwingen, Norwegian tvinge, Swedish tvinga, Icelandic þvinga. What may be perceived as a repetition of the consonant shift (from Germanic *þ → Old High German d → Middle High German t → modern German z) is a regular development that affected most words with Old High German dw- and tw- (compare Zwerg, but see also quengeln for a counterexample). Compare English twinge.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtsvɪŋən/, [ˈtsʋɪŋən], [ˈtsʋɪŋŋ̩]
• Rhymes: -ɪŋn̩
• Hyphenation: zwin‧gen

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

zwingen (class 3 strong, third-person singular present zwingt, past tense zwang, past participle gezwungen, past subjunctive zwänge, auxiliary haben)

1. (transitive or reflexive) to force; to compel; to make (someone do something)

   Ich wurde gezwungen, sie zu heiraten.

   I was forced to marry her.

   • 1908, Walther Kabel, Das Tagebuch eines Irren, in: Bibliothek der Unterhaltung und des Wissens, vol. 9, Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft, p. 132:

     Nur mit Aufbietung seiner ganzen Energie zwang er sich zur Ruhe.

     Only with the mobilization of all his energy did he force himself to be calm.

2. (intransitive, with "zu ...") to necessitate; to call for

References

Further reading

• “zwingen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “zwingen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “zwingen” in Duden online
• “zwingen” in OpenThesaurus.de
• James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Zwingen”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC.