A fun look at the origin and meaning of "der Zweck" and its related words.
Words we'll learn:
der Zweck, die Zweckehe, die Reißzwecke, bezwecken, zwecks, zwecklos,...
By: Emanuel|33 Comments| Updated:
January 15, 2026
Hello everyone,
and welcome to our German Word of the Day. This time we’ll take a look at the meaning of
der Zweck
Back in the 8th century a Zweckwas something like a small nail or pin. to be a small nail and in the 14th century is was especially often used in context of fixing your target on a tree or a wall for archery training. Not everybody was a good shot. One king in particular had a really bad aim. And so one day, at target practice, this happened:
Two free lessons used this month
Want to keep learning?
Become a YourDailyGerman member and get unlimited access to all German lessons and grammar practice tools.
World's best teacher of German words and grammar. Full Bio →
German Grammar • Vocabulary • Etymology
Word of the Day – “der Zweck” - Key Questions
"Der Zweck" is the practical purpose, use, or objective of something. It’s a down-to-earth notion of why something exists or what it’s for.
"Der Zweck" is practical purpose or use. "Das Ziel" is the target or aim you try to reach. "Der Sinn" is the deeper sense or meaning. ·Was ist der Zweck Ihrer Reise? ·What is the purpose of your travel?
You’ll see "Zweck" in compounds and phrases like "Mehrzweckhalle" for multi purpose arena, "Verwendungszweck" as the reference on a bank transfer, "zwecks" meaning for the purpose of, "Zweckehe" for a convenience marriage, and "Reißzwecke" for a push pin.
Common ones are "zwecklos" meaning pointless or futile, "zweckmäßig" meaning fitting for the purpose, "bezwecken" meaning to aim to accomplish, and "zweckentfremden" meaning to repurpose or use something for a different purpose.
Yes. It started as an official shortcut but it’s short and handy so people use "zwecks" in daily conversation too.
It originally meant a small nail or pin used to hang targets. Over time it shifted from the nail to the target and then to the idea of purpose. The old nail meaning survives in "Reißzwecke".
Oh, both are totally fine. “Ziel” puts more slightly focus on the outcome, while Zweck sounds more like what’s the purpose of the thing, but in essence that makes no difference here. For a key, the Zweck would be to unlock a lock, while there isn’t really a Ziel for a key. “Ziele” are usually associated with actions (like presenting).
A little correction: your “zu” was in the wrong spot.
“Der Zweck der Präsentation ist, alle Abteilungen in das Thema einzuführen.
Hope that helps.
duuuudeZ
I just read today that zwicken and Zweig are related, too. I guess the Zweig’s were zwick’d with the Zweck.
That search thing is actually really weird. Good idea though to limit the sites to the .de domain. As for zwecks… I feel like I’ve read that it was a Genitive of the noun “Zweck” first, like… “des Zwecks”. But I can’t remember where.
Paolo
I see “zwecks” requires the genitiv. Dazu hätte ich zwei Fragen:
Is it really important to get the case right, since it seems no article is eigentlich needed before the noun?
Gute Frage. The fact that there are no articles is actually a coincidence.
– Ich suche alte Fahrräder zwecks meines Hobbies.
Using “meinem Hobby” here doesn’t sound super awful. And the Genitive itself isn’t all too pretty to begin with, with all the “s”. I’d say it’s fine, but it’s not as common as using the Dative with “wegen”, so chances to get corrected are higher. Oh… actually I just checked Google and “zwecks meines” gets abot 4000 hits while “zwecks meinem” gets over 7000. So at least the internet will give you a pass :)
Jo Alex Sousa Gomes
You make learning German so much fun! Thousand thanks once more!
Félix LeChien
For the benefit of the French-speaking readers, it might help to consider “zwecks” as being a translation for “afin de”. Well, at least it is helpful to me…
My French is a bit rusty but I think “afin de” is usually connected with activities and it’s pretty normal to have somewhat longer chunks after it
– afin de se revoir bientot
“Zwecks” is for nouns. Two of the three examples I gave had nounified verbs in them, so that was a bit unlucky. It works but you cannot extend them the way you can extend an infinitive
– zwecks sich bald Wiedersehen
People might say that in spoken but it’s not very idiomatic and not proper.
When you write “Ich war heute zwecks Ummeldung beim Bürgeramt”, I feel it’s natural to translate it with “afin de” like this: “Je suis allé aujourd’hui à la mairie afin de faire un changement d’adresse”. As you pointed out, “afin de” is followed by an infinitive verb (“faire”), not a nounified verb. An infinitive verb is always required; it could have been “… afin de changer d’adresse” too.
If one insists on keeping the nounified verb (without the verb), one could use “aux fins de” like this: “Je suis allé aujourd’hui à la mairie aux fins de changement d’adresse”. The sentence is correct, but it sounds a bit too formal. An example of a good use of “aux fins de” would be: “Le rapport a été transmis à l’ingénieur aux fins d’évaluation” (or “… pour fins d’évaluation”, an older form) – “The report has been sent to the engineer for evaluation purposes”.
In the end, “zwecks” is actually better translated by “aux fins de”, but in everyday language we would preferably use “afin de” and replace the nounified verb with the corresponding verb.
It’s funny to note that “aux fins de” is actually the plural form of “afin de” (a contraction of “à fin de”)… Crazy, isn’t it?
Thank you for your awesome blog, and not-less-awesome comments!!!
About Zweck-WG, I think it’s the same Zweck of Zweckehe, in this specific sense of “cold pragmatic purely self-interest purpose” it can nicely be translated to “maṣlaħa” in Arabic.
Your description is spot on :)!..Would the Arabic word for Zweckehe also be used for arranged marriages that serve all kinds of purposes but the interest of the married ones? In German, I wouldn’t use Zweckehe for that.
Not necessarly, that’s not the main focus of the exoression. It would more likely be used when you marry someone only to get citizenship for example.
Danilo
Hey dude,
Fantastic post once again. I hope you really fulfill your new year`s resolution and make a better navigation to the site! I am trying to find all your posts that I still haven`t read and that requires me to keep going back the pages until the start of time ;)
Also I am leaving Germany in the end of february, but I would like to take your book with me. Is it going to be ready by then? If not I guess we gotta find out how much it costs to send it to Brazil, hehe
Nah, the book won’t be finished by the time you leave. However, even though I don’t lik ethe company, I’m gonna publish with Amazon and do Print on Demand. I don’t think shipping is gonna be too expensive. And if so, you can get the eBook. Or you win a copy, cause I’ll definitely put some out fo’ free :). As for navigation… I’m working on it, but I’m wondering: what is it that you’re missing. All posts pretty much are listed under “Word of the Day” and Online Course. I just don’t update too regularly.
Es gibt jetzt in amerikanischen decorating circles ein neues Begriff to repurpose. Es scheint ein hammer uebersetzung von zweckentfremden zu sein! (Aber ich kann dieses Begruff nie vorstellen als Teil von irgendeine agency name) Vielen Dank fuer noch ein sehr interessantes Post!
MacFeagel
zweckentfremden sounds like ‘to repurpose’
Cool word, let’s see if I can slip it into conversation anywhere.
But I think it sounds a bit more negative than to repurpose. “fremd” has a slightly negative touch and entfremden all the more…”purpose-estranged” would be a good fit… if it were a word, that is.
Antonio
Hi! thanks for everything.. what about the in-famous Zweck-WG??
Everyone who searched housing in Munich come to the glorious website WG-Gesucht dot de, and visited it quite a lot (housing in Munich is kind of a problem: no space but a lot of people that want to live there). You have different kinds of WGs (Wohngemeinschaft): Studenten-WG, Party-WG, Business-WG (flatmates are at home only when working on town, so they are there rarely), Frauen-WG, Männer-WG.. and Zweck-WG (I lived there for a while). Zweck-WG is a room in a shared apartament where sharing is made only to save money. There is no need “to get along with other flatmates” (and trust me, in Munich situation is so crazy that people even specify the kind of Music they like to listen). In a Zweck-WG you WILL NOT find: students that have parents living in the nearby city and decide to live in the big city to have parties with flatmates.
Using the word “Zweck” here implies that there’s no feeling involved whatsoever. You really only live together for a boring, dry purpose (usually to save money) and not for amusement or friendship or whatever. Like… I’d have a 2 room apartment and so I’d sublet one room but I do not care at all about socializing with the other person. I think, the most common context for the word, at least on wg-gesucht.de is the phrase “KEINE Zweck-WG”. Still, it’s quite common and I can’t imagine something of that sort doesn’t exist in the UK… London at least, considering how expensive it is.
yaribiskuvi
Ich Der Cappu hat weder wachwerdenmäßig noch zwecks Kacken was gebracht. Cappu(ccino) is useful netiher for awakening nor defecating.
Hello everyone,
Audio Speed
Dark Mode
Thanks Emanuel :-)
Gerne!
Der Zweck von Präsentation ist zu allen abteilung über das Thema einführen : is these correct formation ? or here more appropriate is Ziel?
Oh, both are totally fine. “Ziel” puts more slightly focus on the outcome, while Zweck sounds more like what’s the purpose of the thing, but in essence that makes no difference here.
For a key, the Zweck would be to unlock a lock, while there isn’t really a Ziel for a key. “Ziele” are usually associated with actions (like presenting).
A little correction: your “zu” was in the wrong spot.
“Der Zweck der Präsentation ist, alle Abteilungen in das Thema einzuführen.
Hope that helps.
I just read today that zwicken and Zweig are related, too. I guess the Zweig’s were zwick’d with the Zweck.
Yup, the zw-family is pretty “verzweigt”
mmmhh… I had naively thought the “s” in zwecks was already a
leftover of an article.
By the way, “restricting” the search to German websites, I get
“zwecks meinem” site:de
4.760 results
“zwecks meines” site:de
11.100 results
so don’t know what google is up to here
PS: thanks again for all this. you are doing a good service to the German language
That search thing is actually really weird. Good idea though to limit the sites to the .de domain.
As for zwecks… I feel like I’ve read that it was a Genitive of the noun “Zweck” first, like… “des Zwecks”. But I can’t remember where.
I see “zwecks” requires the genitiv. Dazu hätte ich zwei Fragen:
Is it really important to get the case right, since it seems
no article is eigentlich needed before the noun?
Can the Mehrzweck-dativ be used instead?
tnx!
Gute Frage. The fact that there are no articles is actually a coincidence.
– Ich suche alte Fahrräder zwecks meines Hobbies.
Using “meinem Hobby” here doesn’t sound super awful. And the Genitive itself isn’t all too pretty to begin with, with all the “s”. I’d say it’s fine, but it’s not as common as using the Dative with “wegen”, so chances to get corrected are higher.
Oh… actually I just checked Google and “zwecks meines” gets abot 4000 hits while “zwecks meinem” gets over 7000. So at least the internet will give you a pass :)
You make learning German so much fun! Thousand thanks once more!
For the benefit of the French-speaking readers, it might help to consider “zwecks” as being a translation for “afin de”. Well, at least it is helpful to me…
My French is a bit rusty but I think “afin de” is usually connected with activities and it’s pretty normal to have somewhat longer chunks after it
– afin de se revoir bientot
“Zwecks” is for nouns. Two of the three examples I gave had nounified verbs in them, so that was a bit unlucky. It works but you cannot extend them the way you can extend an infinitive
– zwecks sich bald Wiedersehen
People might say that in spoken but it’s not very idiomatic and not proper.
– zwecks [noun]
– afin de [verb]
Or can I have a noun after the “de”?
You are right! Your French is not that rusty… ;-)
When you write “Ich war heute zwecks Ummeldung beim Bürgeramt”, I feel it’s natural to translate it with “afin de” like this: “Je suis allé aujourd’hui à la mairie afin de faire un changement d’adresse”. As you pointed out, “afin de” is followed by an infinitive verb (“faire”), not a nounified verb. An infinitive verb is always required; it could have been “… afin de changer d’adresse” too.
If one insists on keeping the nounified verb (without the verb), one could use “aux fins de” like this: “Je suis allé aujourd’hui à la mairie aux fins de changement d’adresse”. The sentence is correct, but it sounds a bit too formal. An example of a good use of “aux fins de” would be: “Le rapport a été transmis à l’ingénieur aux fins d’évaluation” (or “… pour fins d’évaluation”, an older form) – “The report has been sent to the engineer for evaluation purposes”.
In the end, “zwecks” is actually better translated by “aux fins de”, but in everyday language we would preferably use “afin de” and replace the nounified verb with the corresponding verb.
It’s funny to note that “aux fins de” is actually the plural form of “afin de” (a contraction of “à fin de”)… Crazy, isn’t it?
Thank you for your awesome blog, and not-less-awesome comments!!!
Merci a toi aussie :)!
About Zweck-WG, I think it’s the same Zweck of Zweckehe, in this specific sense of “cold pragmatic purely self-interest purpose” it can nicely be translated to “maṣlaħa” in Arabic.
zawaj maṣlaħa زواج مصلحة
Zweckehe
Your description is spot on :)!..Would the Arabic word for Zweckehe also be used for arranged marriages that serve all kinds of purposes but the interest of the married ones? In German, I wouldn’t use Zweckehe for that.
Not necessarly, that’s not the main focus of the exoression. It would more likely be used when you marry someone only to get citizenship for example.
Hey dude,
Fantastic post once again. I hope you really fulfill your new year`s resolution and make a better navigation to the site! I am trying to find all your posts that I still haven`t read and that requires me to keep going back the pages until the start of time ;)
Also I am leaving Germany in the end of february, but I would like to take your book with me. Is it going to be ready by then? If not I guess we gotta find out how much it costs to send it to Brazil, hehe
Thanks
Nah, the book won’t be finished by the time you leave. However, even though I don’t lik ethe company, I’m gonna publish with Amazon and do Print on Demand. I don’t think shipping is gonna be too expensive. And if so, you can get the eBook. Or you win a copy, cause I’ll definitely put some out fo’ free :).
As for navigation… I’m working on it, but I’m wondering: what is it that you’re missing. All posts pretty much are listed under “Word of the Day” and Online Course. I just don’t update too regularly.
Anyway, back to Zweck… hehe… that rhymes
…if you have a German accent. ;)
All bie bäck!!!
great work…..nice word
Es gibt jetzt in amerikanischen decorating circles ein neues Begriff to repurpose. Es scheint ein hammer uebersetzung von zweckentfremden zu sein! (Aber ich kann dieses Begruff nie vorstellen als Teil von irgendeine agency name) Vielen Dank fuer noch ein sehr interessantes Post!
zweckentfremden sounds like ‘to repurpose’
Cool word, let’s see if I can slip it into conversation anywhere.
Thanks!
But I think it sounds a bit more negative than to repurpose. “fremd” has a slightly negative touch and entfremden all the more…”purpose-estranged” would be a good fit… if it were a word, that is.
Hi! thanks for everything.. what about the in-famous Zweck-WG??
Oh Gott, na klar!! Total vergessen… die Zweck-WG!! Do you want to give it a try and make an example?
Everyone who searched housing in Munich come to the glorious website WG-Gesucht dot de, and visited it quite a lot (housing in Munich is kind of a problem: no space but a lot of people that want to live there). You have different kinds of WGs (Wohngemeinschaft): Studenten-WG, Party-WG, Business-WG (flatmates are at home only when working on town, so they are there rarely), Frauen-WG, Männer-WG.. and Zweck-WG (I lived there for a while). Zweck-WG is a room in a shared apartament where sharing is made only to save money. There is no need “to get along with other flatmates” (and trust me, in Munich situation is so crazy that people even specify the kind of Music they like to listen). In a Zweck-WG you WILL NOT find: students that have parents living in the nearby city and decide to live in the big city to have parties with flatmates.
Wow, I wonder if there is a UK equivalent to such sharing. Also, what is Zweck here – sharing for the purpose?
Using the word “Zweck” here implies that there’s no feeling involved whatsoever. You really only live together for a boring, dry purpose (usually to save money) and not for amusement or friendship or whatever. Like… I’d have a 2 room apartment and so I’d sublet one room but I do not care at all about socializing with the other person. I think, the most common context for the word, at least on wg-gesucht.de is the phrase “KEINE Zweck-WG”.
Still, it’s quite common and I can’t imagine something of that sort doesn’t exist in the UK… London at least, considering how expensive it is.
Ich Der Cappu hat weder wachwerdenmäßig noch zwecks Kacken was gebracht.
Cappu(ccino) is useful netiher for awakening nor defecating.
Ein Versuch lohnt sich.
Sehr gut :)