kauen

Meaning

1. (transitive, weak) to chew (something)
2. (intransitive, weak) to chew, to gnaw
3. (weak) to bite

Concepts

chew

masticate

chomp

champ

munch

chaw

manducate

bite

Synonyms

abnagen

nagen

zerkauen

beißen

mampfen

mahlen

anknabbern

Koka kauen

etwas in den Mund tun

laut kauen

abkauen

Dialects

Aargau

chätsche

Data provided by: Deutsch-Schweizerdeutsches Wörterbuch

Hyphenated as

kau‧en

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈkaʊ̯ən/

Etymology

From Middle High German kūwen, kiuwen, kewen, from Old High German kūwen, kiuwan, from Proto-West Germanic *keuwan.
The form shows the Central German development of Middle High German -iuw- → -ūw-, which is only sporadically reflected in the modern standard language (compare brauen). The expected form can still be found in the compound wiederkäuen (“to chew the cud”). Cognate with Dutch kauwen, Low German käwwen, West Frisian koaie, kôgje, English chew.