machen

Meaning

(transitive,weak) to make, to produce, to create (an object, arrangement, situation, etc.)
(transitive,weak) to make, prepare (food, drinks, etc.)
(informal,transitive,weak) to do, perform, carry out (an action) (to execute; to put into operation)
(transitive,weak) to do (a noun); indicates an activity associated with a noun
(transitive,weak) to go (a specified sound) (to make the sound)
(transitive,weak) to make, to cause
(transitive,weak) to cause [with dative ‘for/in someone’ and accusative abstract noun ‘fear, pain, difficulty, happiness, etc.’] (often translated idiomatically with English make followed by an adjective)
(transitive,weak) to make (to cause to be)
(transitive,weak) to make (to transform) [with accusative ‘something’ and aus (+ dative) ‘from something else’] (often translated idiomatically with English turn (something into something else))
(transitive,weak) to make (to have as a feature) (often not translated literally)
(colloquial,informal,transitive,weak) to come to, to total, to cost (to require the payment of)
(transitive,weak) to make, to be (the result of a calculation)
(colloquial,informal,transitive,weak) to make (to earn, gain wages, profit, etc.)
(transitive,weak) to be, to play (to act as the indicated role, especially in a performance)
(colloquial,transitive,weak) to signify, to mean [with nichts, viel, etc.] (translated idiomatically as English (not) matter)
(informal,intransitive,weak) to make, to make oneself out to be, to act, to play (to behave so as to give an appearance of being; to act as if one were (something, or a certain way))
(euphemistic,informal,intransitive,weak) to do one's business, do number two or number one, go (to defecate or urinate)
(reflexive,weak) to do, to fare
(reflexive,weak) to look (to have an appearance of being)
(colloquial,dative,reflexive,weak) to get cracking (on/with), to get a move on (it), to get down (to)
(imperative,weak) come on, let's go

Frequency

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈmaxən/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle High German machen, from Old High German mahhōn, from Proto-West Germanic *makōn, from Proto-Indo-European *mag- (“to knead, mix, make”). Cognate with English make.