rauchen

Meaning

1. (intransitive,weak) to smoke, give off smoke
2. (intransitive,transitive,weak) to smoke (tobacco etc.)

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈʁaʊ̯xən/

Etymology

From Middle High German rouchen, röuchen, from Old High German rouhhen, from Proto-West Germanic *raukijan. By surface analysis, Rauch (“smoke”) + -en.
The form without umlaut is due to (chiefly Upper German) umlaut hindrance before velars and/or readaptation to the noun. Some dialects use either form throughout, others came to distinguish both forms (transitive vs. intransitive). In the latter case, the umlauted form usually took on the transitive use. In Modern Standard German, räuchen was displaced by the extended form räuchern (see there). The use for “to inhale tobacco” (later 17th c.) is a calque of French fumer.