döda

Döda is a Swedish verb meaning "to kill." It is a transitive verb used to cause the death of a living being, including people or animals. In ordinary language, journalism, and literature it appears in a wide range of contexts from personal actions to crimes and warfare. The related adjective död means dead, and the noun döden refers to death.

Conjugation and forms: Infinitive döda; present dödar; past dödade; supine dödat. Perfect tense har dödat (has killed); pluperfect hade dödat (had killed). Imperative döda. Passive forms include dödas (to be killed) and the perfect passive har dödats (has been killed).

Usage and nuance: Döda tends to be a neutral, literal term for killing. More specific terms convey nuances: mörda denotes murder or criminal killing; dräpa is older or literary for kill; avliva is commonly used for euthanizing animals. In passive constructions you find phrases like en person har dödats (a person has been killed).

Etymology and cognates: The verb is of Germanic origin and has cognates in other Scandinavian languages, such as Danish dræbe and Norwegian drepe, all meaning "to kill." The word is part of a family of terms connected to death and killing across the North Germanic languages.

Example: Han dödade en orm i trädgården.