betören

German

Etymology

From Middle High German betœren. By surface analysis, be- + Tor (fool) + -en.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bəˈtøːrən/, [bəˈtøː.ʁən], [-ˈtøː.ɐn], [-ˈtøːɐ̯n], [-ˈtœɐ̯n]
  • Hyphenation: be‧tö‧ren
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -øːʀən

Verb

betören (weak, third-person singular present betört, past tense betörte, past participle betört, auxiliary haben)

  1. (transitive, chiefly literary) to bewitch, infatuate, intoxicate, stupefy, to make someone unable to think straight
    Der Blick ihrer pechschwarzen Augen betörte ihn.
    The glance of her pitch-black eyes infatuated him.
    Ich war betört von der lauten Musik und der tanzenden Menge.
    I was intoxicated by the loud music and the dancing crowd.
    • 1808, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “Straße”, in Faust: Der Tragödie erster Teil [Faust, Part One]; republished as Bayard Taylor, transl., 1870:
      Denn morgen wirst in allen Ehren, / Das arme Gretchen nicht bethören / Und alle Seelenlieb’ ihr schwören?
      For wilt thou not, no lover fairer, / Poor Margaret flatter, and ensnare her, / And all thy soul's devotion swear her?
    • 1851, Heinrich Heine, “Mythologie”, in Romanzero, Hamburg: Hoffmann und Campe:
      Aber tief muß uns empören / Was wir von der Leda lesen– / Welche Gans bist du gewesen, / Daß ein Schwan dich konnt betören!
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Conjugation

Derived terms

Further reading

  • betören” in Duden online
  • betören” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
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