Word of the Day – “wickeln”

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Hello everyone,

And welcome to your German Word of the Day, this time with a look at the meaning and family of

wickeln

Which is quite on topic for me personally right now, because it is one of the words for putting a diaper on a baby.

But that’s not all it is and especially one of its prefix versions is incredibly useful.
So are you ready for a healthy dose of vocab, trivia and dad jokes?

Then let’s go!

If we look up wickeln in a dictionary, we’ll get to wrap.
And that’s probably indeed the best translation, but it’s not an exact match either.

What wickeln is at its core is a sort of winding something around something.

Think for example of yarn that you wind back onto its ball. Or better yet, think of wrapping a vase in some paper or bubble wrap. This is wickeln and here it lines up well with to wrap.

• Ich wickele die Vase in Luftpolsterfolie.
• I wrap the vase in bubble wrap.
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But to wrap is more general and often just expresses the idea of packing something.
When you buy a book around Christmas, you might want to ask staff if they can gift wrap it.
And in German, the word for that would be einpacken. Or verpacken, if you want to go boring-formal.

• Können Sie das als Geschenk einpacken?
• Could you wrap it as a gift?
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If you were to wickeln here, it would sound like you’re asking them to roll some layers around the book. Because this round, rolling quality is at the core of wickeln.
So it’s ONLY a translation for to wrap if this quality is clearly present.

• Ich wickele mir den Verband um den Arm.
• I wrap the bandage around my arm.
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• Welcher Idiot hat meinen Schal um den kaputten Schlauch gewickelt?
• Which idiot wrapped my scarf around the broken tube?

And it’s also present in the nouns.

• Kalte Wadenwickel können bei Fieber helfen.
• Cooling calf wraps can help with fever.
  (Cold wet towel wrapped around the calves)
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• In jedem dm Markt gibt es normalerweise einen Wickeltisch und Wickelsachen, so dass man ohne Probleme sein Baby wickeln kann und in Ruhe shoppen.
• In every dm market, there’s usually a changing table and changing material so you can change your baby without problems and shop in peace.
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If you’re wondering why wickeln for a baby… well, that’s because we used to wrap fabric diapers around them and the word stayed.

The last example is true, by the way. dm is a drugstore chain, where you can buy “bathroom stuff” so to speak. And they usually have a changing table with free changing supplies right there next to the baby aisle. No need to ask for a key or anything. You can just go.
And by the way… all the women I know LOVE dm Markt. Like, when they see one, they get a visceral reaction, like genuine joy and comfort. I don’t know what it is, but it’s the best branding job I have ever seen. Yeah, I know, Apple was pretty good for a while but what women feel toward dm is REALLY personal.
If you live in Germany and you know dm, please share in the comments if they got to you too :)

Anyway, so now we know wickeln and that it’s a kind of roll-wrapping.
That’s nice.
But that’s only half the story. The other half are the prefix versions, so let’s take a look.

The Prefix Versions of ‘wickeln’

Let’s start boring! Yeay!

Some of the prefix versions of wickeln are of course literal, so they’re just the normal “roll-wrapping” with an added sense of direction.
Like einwickeln, auswickeln, aufwickeln or rumwickeln.

• Der Fisch ist in Zeitung eingewickelt und ich wickele ihn aus.
• The fish is wrapped in a newspaper and I unwrap it now.
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• Kannst du die Kabel aufwickeln?
• Can you coil up the cable?
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• Damit der Topf mit der Suppe länger warm bleibt, habe ich ein Tuch rumgewickelt.
• In order for the pot to stay warm for longer, I wrapped a towel around it.
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These are fairly self-explanatory, but einwickeln for example does have a second, more abstract meaning.
I’ll give you a couple of examples:

• Thomas kann dich mit seinem Charm leicht einwickeln, pass auf.
• Thomas can easily charm you, so watch out.
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• Beim Event geht es darum, potenzielle Käufer mittels Feel-Good Vibes einzuwickeln.
• The event is about reeling in/winning over potential buyers with feel-good vibes.
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It’s about charming and sweet-talking, but with a negative touch. So it’s not about winning over through the better arguments. There’s a notion of manipulation in it. You wrap someone with your charm so they can’t move, if you will.
Not necessarily a word you need to use actively, but I’m sure you’ll read it sooner or later.

And the same goes for the next one: verwickeln. Ver- here kind of adds a sense of thorough winding, and the verb basically is a figurative to tangle up.

• Der Politiker ist in den Korruptionsskandal verwickelt.
• The politician is involved/tangled up in the corruption scandal.
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This means that he has at least a role there, he’s wrapped up in the messy ball that is this scandal.
And this messy ball visual can also help with the noun die Verwicklung, which can express a messy, complicated situation.

• Der Skandal hat zu Verwicklungen zwischen den Ländern geführt.
• The scandal led to/created complications/a messy situation between the two countries.
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Like I said… not words you need actively, but you’ll see it sooner or later.

Cool.
Now, we’re almost done, but there is one verb we haven’t talked about yet, and that one is actually kind of the main vocabulary takeaway for today. All the ones so far are NTH (nice to have) or even FFTI (feel free to ignore).
But not the next one. That’s an MK (must know).
I’m talking about entwickeln.

(sich) entwickeln – Meaning and Use

Taken literally, entwickeln would be to unwrap, but it does NOT mean that at all.
What it really means is to develop.
Sure, it’s abstract, but it actually makes sense.
If you “unwrap” something, you slowly bring more of it to light. And in a way, developing and evolving is the same. Layers of “unknown” are removed and what is there in potential is revealed to the world.

And it’s not only German that uses this metaphor. The word develop is actually the same. It’s a combo of the prefix de-, which expresses the removal, and an old French word voloper which meant… drumroll… to wrap.

Oh and then there’s to evolve, which can also be a translation for sich entwickeln sometimes. And evolve is basically the prefix e- with the idea of outward and the Latin volvere which meant… rolling.

And then, there’s the English verb to unfold, which can be used figuratively for a situation unfolding or developing.

So yeah… different languages use a very similar metaphor for the idea of developing. The words are different, the idea is the same.
And in German, it’s entwickeln.

• Ich entwickle im Moment eine App und eine Katzenhaarallergie.
• I’m currently developing an app and an allergy to cat hair.
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• Niemand weiß genau, wie der Mensch Bewusstsein entwickelt hat.
• No one knows exactly how humans developed consciousness.
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What’s important to know is that entwickeln ALWAYS needs a direct object.
In English, you can say stuff like “Let’s see how the situation develops (evolves, unfolds).”
In German, you cannot say:

• Lass uns gucken, wie die Situation entwickelt…. WRONG

You always need to entwickeln SOMETHING. And that’s why you’d need a self-reference in such an example.

• Lass uns gucken, wie SICH die Situation entwickelt.

Literally, in German we say “The situation unwraps itself”.
This is a broader trend, by the way. Many self-affecting verbs need this direct object reflexive in German where English is okay without anything.
That doesn’t mean that sich entwickeln is a reflexive verb though. It’s just a verb that needs an object and that CAN be the subject itself.

I have a really cool tool where you can practice and learn this kind of stuff, by the way. I’ll post the link at the end.
And that’s not gonna be very far.
In fact, I’ll just throw a few more examples at you and then we can call it a day.

• Ich entwickle mich jeden Tag weiter.
• I evolve/get better every day.
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• Meine Pflanze hat sich gut entwickelt.
• My plant developed well.
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And a quick one for the noun:

• Viele haben die Entwicklung schon vorhergesehen.
• Many have predicted the development.
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And that’s it for today. Hooray!
This was our look at the meaning and family of wickeln and if you take away only one thing then it’s the verb (sich) entwickeln, because that’s one you’ll definitely need.

I’m a bit busy with baby-duties right now and haven’t managed to create a quiz for this one. I might add one in a few days, but even if not you can just use my awesome text comprehension practice tool to practice the vocabulary of today in a text for YOUR level.
It’s a really great way to recap, reinforce and also practice the reading portion format of German exams like TestDaF.

And of course, if you have any questions about today’s article or any suggestions, just leave me a comment.

I hope you liked it, have a great week and see you next time.

Further reading:

My Practice and Learning Tool for Reflexive Verbs in German

Reading Comprehension Practice with Today’s Vocab

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