saugen

Saugen is a German verb meaning to suck or to draw in by suction. It covers everyday actions such as sucking on a candy, drawing liquid through a straw, or breastfeeding an infant. In medical and technical contexts, saugen describes the act of creating suction to remove fluids or to draw substances through a system.

Conjugation and usage. In present tense: ich sauge, du saugst, er saugt, wir saugen, ihr saugt, sie saugen. The imperfect (simple past) form is saugte: “Er saugte an der Strohhalm.” The perfect tense uses haben with the past participle: “Ich habe gesaugt.” The verb is regular in its conjugation patterns, and das Saugen as a noun denotes the act itself.

Noun form and related terms. Das Saugen refers to the act of sucking, as in “das Saugen am Daumen.” In compound nouns the stem Saug- appears to indicate suction or drawing in, such as Staubsauger (vacuum cleaner) or Saugpumpe (suction pump). These derivatives show how the concept of drawing in liquids or air is embedded across many technical terms.

Etymology and related languages. Saugen descends from Germanic roots associated with drawing in liquids by suction. Cognates exist in other West Germanic languages; for example, Dutch zuigen shares a similar meaning and stem, reflecting common Germanic origins.

See also. Saug- as a productive prefix in German for devices and processes involving suction, and related verbs in Germanic languages that express drawing or sucking actions.