wächst

Wächst is the third-person singular present tense form of the German verb wachsen, meaning to grow or to increase in size, extent, or importance. It is used for living beings as well as for non-living quantities such as populations, economies, or distances over time. Examples include a plant that grows quickly or a city whose population grows.

Grammar notes: The infinitive is wachsen. Present tense forms are ich wachse, du wächst, er/sie/es wächst, wir wachsen, ihr wachst, sie/Sie wachsen. In the third-person singular present, the stem vowel commonly changes from a to ä, yielding wächst. The simple past is wuchs (ich wuchs, er wuchs), and the perfect uses the auxiliary sein with the past participle gewachsen (ist gewachsen). The present participle is wachsend, and the noun form meaning growth is das Wachstum.

Usage and scope: Wachsen can describe biological growth in plants and animals, as well as quantitative increases such as populations, economies, prices, or distances. It is often used with time expressions to indicate gradual change, and it can appear in both everyday and formal registers. In companion expressions, aufwachsen means to grow up, while zusammenwachsen denotes coming together or merging.

Etymology and related terms: The word is of Germanic origin and is cognate with related forms in other Germanic languages; in English, it is historically linked to the verb to wax, signifying growth. Related German terms include Wachstum (growth) and Zuwachs (increase or gain).