German word

abtreten

Pronunciation

IPA/ˈapˌtʁeːtn̩/

Meaning

  • verbhand over

Example

Er tritt seinem Sohn sein Fahrrad ab.

He is handing his bicycle over to his son.

Illustration for abtreten (hand over)

More examples

Er musste seinem Kollegen den Vortritt abtreten.

He had to give way to his colleague.

Core concept

A departing officeholder leaves a marked chair and places its key in a successor's hand.

Common phrases

  • seinen Platz abtreten

    relinquish one's place

  • den Vortritt abtreten

    let ___ go first

  • den Platz abtreten

    vacate one's place

Similar words

zurücktreten: To resign from an official position or public office.
übertragen: To formally transfer a right, task, or responsibility to another person.
übergeben: To hand over an object or document so another person can take charge of it.
abgeben: To give an item to another person or submit it to an authority.

Definition in German

eine offizielle Aufgabe oder Position verlassen und die damit verbundenen Pflichten an eine andere Person übergeben

Word origin

Abtreten combines separable ab- ('away') with treten ('step'), giving the idea of stepping away and extending to relinquishing a position or handing something over.

Usage tips

  • In the handover sense, the recipient usually takes dative and the transferred item takes accusative.

Other meanings

  • vacateverb
  • step downverb

Opposites

Related words

  • Abtretungtransfernoun
  • abgetretentransferredadjective

Word lists with this word