abtreten

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German

Etymology

ab +‎ treten

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈapˌtʁeːtn̩/
  • Hyphenation: ab‧tre‧ten
  • Audio:(file)

Verb

abtreten (class 5 strong, third-person singular present tritt ab, past tense trat ab, past participle abgetreten, past subjunctive träte ab, auxiliary haben or sein)

  1. (transitive) to kick away
    Den Eiszapfen habe ich abgetreten.
    I kicked the icicle away.
  2. (transitive) to wipe off (the soles of one’s shoes)
    Bitte Schuhe abtreten!
    Please wipe your shoes!
  3. (transitive) to wear out (one’s shoes)
    Die Schuhe sind schon ganz schön abgetreten.
    Those shoes are really worn out already.
  4. (intransitive) to step away, walk off
    Er trat von der Bühne ab.
    He walked off the stage.
  5. (intransitive) to resign (one’s job)
    Er wurde gezwungen, von seinem Posten abzutreten.
    He was forced to resign from his post.
  6. (euphemistic, intransitive) to die
    Nach schwerer Krankheit ist er endlich abgetreten.
    After a long illness he finally passed away.
  7. (transitive) to relinquish, trade away, cede
    Synonym: aufgeben
    Ich trete dir meine Schulbücher gerne ab.
    I’ll be glad to hand over my schoolbooks to you.
    • 2014, Tillmann Bendikowski, “Einigkeit vor Recht und Freiheit”. In: Zeit Geschichte. Epochen. Menschen. Ideen. Number 4, page 40:
      Frankreich musste Elsass-Lothringen abtreten und die ungeheuerliche Reparationssumme von fünf Milliarden Franc zahlen.
      France had to cede Alsace-Lorraine and pay the enormous reparation sum of five billion francs.

Conjugation

Derived terms

Further reading