dürfen (German)
Where does "dürfen" come from?
The German verb 'dürfen' traces its roots back to the Proto-Indo-European root *terp-, which originally meant 'to satisfy' or 'to satiate.' Over time, it evolved through Proto-Germanic and Old High German as *þurban, shifting from a sense of needing or requiring into the modern German meaning of being allowed or permitted to do something.
Full etymology tree
- dürfen (German), 'to be allowed (to do something); to be permitted (to do something); may'
- inherited durfen (Middle High German), 'to need'
- inherited durfan (Old High German)
- inherited *þurban (Proto-West Germanic), 'to need'
- inherited *þurbaną (Proto-Germanic), 'to need, to require'
- inherited *tetórpe (Proto-Indo-European), 'to be satisfied'
- derived *terp- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to satisfy'
- inherited *tetórpe (Proto-Indo-European), 'to be satisfied'
- inherited *þurbaną (Proto-Germanic), 'to need, to require'
- inherited *þurban (Proto-West Germanic), 'to need'
- inherited durfan (Old High German)
- inherited durfen (Middle High German), 'to need'
Ancestors
- durfen (Middle High German)
- *þurban (Proto-West Germanic)
Cognates and doublets
- τέρπω (Ancient Greek)
- tharf (English)
Descendants and derived words
- darfar (Ido)
Updated June 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris