Etymology

From Middle High GermanCategory:German terms inherited from Middle High German#RITZENCategory:German terms derived from Middle High German#RITZEN ritzen, *rizzen (in combinations), from the fusion of Old High GermanCategory:German terms inherited from Old High German#RITZENCategory:German terms derived from Old High German#RITZEN rizzen (from Proto-West GermanicCategory:German terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic#RITZENCategory:German terms derived from Proto-West Germanic#RITZEN *rittjan (“to tear, cut”)) and Old High GermanCategory:German terms inherited from Old High German#RITZENCategory:German terms derived from Old High German#RITZEN rizzōn, rezzōn (“to scratch; tear; cut; incise”) (from riz (“scoring; crack; incision; impression; stroke; character, letter”)).

Compare Middle Low German ritten (“to tear, rip, rupture, nick”), Middle English ritten (“to cut; tear open; slit”), whence English dialectal rit (“to scratch; rip; slit”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʁɪt͡sən/, [ˈʁɪt͡sn̩]Category:German 2-syllable words#RITZENCategory:German terms with IPA pronunciation#RITZEN

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

  Category:German terms with audio pronunciation#RITZEN

Verb

ritzen (weak, third-person singular present ritzt, past tense ritzte, past participle geritzt, auxiliary haben)Category:German lemmas#RITZENCategory:German verbs#RITZENCategory:German weak verbs#RITZENCategory:German verbs using haben as auxiliary#RITZENCategory:German entries with incorrect language header#RITZENCategory:Pages with entries#RITZENCategory:Pages with 1 entry#RITZEN

1. to scratch

   Sie ritzten ihre Namen in die Rinde der Weide.

   They carved their names into the bark of the willow tree.

   Category:German terms with usage examples#RITZEN

2. (self-harmCategory:de:Self-harm#RITZEN, reflexiveCategory:German reflexive verbs#RITZEN) to cut oneself

Further reading

• “ritzen” in Duden online
• “ritzen”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎ (in German)