bestreiten

German

Etymology

From Middle High German bestrīten (“to fight against”), equivalent to be- +‎ streiten. Compare English bestride. The sense “to pay” comes from the notion of “be able to cope with”.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): [bəˈʃtʁaɪtn̩]
  • Audio(file)
  • Hyphenation: be‧strei‧ten

Verb

bestreiten (class 1 strong, third-person singular present bestreitet, past tense bestritt, past participle bestritten, auxiliary haben)

  1. to deny (assert to be false)
    Synonym: leugnen
  2. to dispute, contest, controvert (oppose a proposition or call it into question by argument or assertion)
    Der Philosoph bestritt die Existenz unveräußerlicher Menschenrechte.
    The philosopher disputed the existence of inalienable human rights.
  3. to pay for, to sustain financially
    Die Firma konnte die hohen Personalkosten nicht mehr bestreiten.
    The company became unable to pay its high labour costs.

Conjugation

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Derived terms

Further reading
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