rufen

From Middle High German ruofen, from Old High German ruofan, hruofan, from Proto-West Germanic *hrōpan, from Proto-Germanic *hrōpaną. Cognate with Dutch roepen, English roop, which see. Alongside there existed a weak Middle High German ruofen, from Old High German (h)ruofen. Weak conjugation is attestable until the 19th century. It indirectly lingers in the umlautless present forms, as against obsolete du rüfst, er rüft. (Lack of umlaut on rounded diphthong before labial is regular in Upper German, but it has only established itself here, not in laufen and saufen.)

• IPA^(key): /ˈʁuːfən/

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• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

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rufen (class 7 strong, third-person singular present ruft, past tense rief, past participle gerufen, auxiliary haben)

1. (intransitive) to call out, to shout, to cry (of a person or animal)

   Synonym: schreien

   Antonyms: flüstern, schweigen

   um Hilfe rufen ― to cry for help

2. (intransitive) to call for, to request the presence of [with nach (+ dative) ‘someone/something’]

   Das Küken ruft nach seiner Mutter. ― The chick is calling for its mother.

3. (transitive) to call, to request the presence of

   einen Krankenwagen rufen ― to call an ambulance

   die Polizei rufen ― to call the police

   Dann wurden wir alle einzeln auf die Bühne gerufen.

   Then all of us were called up onto the stage one at a time.

4. (transitive) to call, to shout (an order, a statement, someone's name)

   Synonym: schreien

   Antonym: flüstern

   Ich habe nur gehört, wie jemand meinen Namen gerufen hat.

   I only heard someone calling my name.

5. (intransitive, figurative) to call, to beckon, to be waiting

   Synonym: warten

   Ich muss los, die Arbeit ruft.

   I've got to go, I have to get to work.

   (literally, “work beckons”)

6. (dated, transitive) to call (use a certain name for someone) [with accusative ‘someone’ and accusative ‘by a name’]

   Synonym: nennen

   • 1999 June 24, Harald Peters, “Altes Salzgebäck, laues Bier”, in Berliner Zeitung:

     Er sang in Kölsch und hatte leidlich Erfolg, man rief ihn den Dylan der Südstadt.

     He sang in Colognian and had a fair amount of success, they called him the Dylan of Südstadt.

7. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) to ask, to call for [with dative ‘someone’ and zu (+ infinitive) ‘to do something’]

   Synonym: bitten

   Antonym: befehlen

   jemandem zu antworten rufen ― to ask someone to answer

• Ruf

• “rufen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “rufen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “rufen” in Duden online
• “rufen” in OpenThesaurus.de