Abfall

German

Etymology

From Middle High German abfal, abefal, equivalent to ab- (“from”) +‎ Fall (“fall”). Cognate with German Low German Offall, Dutch afval, English offal, Swedish avfall.

Compare typologically Bulgarian отпадък (otpadăk), Czech otpad, Serbo-Croatian отпад (< Proto-Slavic *otъpadъ < *otъ + *padati). Also compare French déchet (<< Latin dēcidō < dē- + cadō).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈapfal]

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Ab‧fall

Noun

Abfall m (strong, genitive Abfalles or Abfalls, plural Abfälle)

1. waste, garbage, rubbish, litter

   Synonym: Müll

   radioaktiver Abfall ― radioactive waste

2. decrease, decline, drop
3. (religion) apostasy

   Abfall vom Glauben ― apostasy from the creed

4. (obsolete) shutter, lid
   • 1680, Franciszek à Mesgnien Meninski, “Abfall”, in Thesaurus linguarum orientalium, Turcicae, Arabicae, Persicae, praecipuas earum opes à Turcis peculiariter usurpatas continens, nimirum Lexicon Turkico-Arabico-Persicum‎^[1] (in Ottoman Turkish, Turkish, Latin, German, Italian, French, and Polish), Vienna, column 3865:

     کپنک kepenk. Decipula & janua seu fenestra lignea, quae elevatur in officinis, aut tabernis ad arcendam pluviam, umbramque captandam. Abfall/Ladenfall Trappola di casa, balconata di bottega. Lápáczká/dách u kramnicy.

     shutter. A trap and wooden door or window which is raised in workshops or shops to ward against rain and to create shade. shutter/store shutter, trap on a house, shop balcony, trap/roof on a shop

Declension

Declension of Abfall [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Abfall	die	Abfälle
genitive	eines	des	Abfalles, Abfalls	der	Abfälle
dative	einem	dem	Abfall, Abfalle1	den	Abfällen
accusative	einen	den	Abfall	die	Abfälle

¹Now rare, see notes.

Derived terms

• (waste): Abfallwirtschaft, Abfalleimer, Bauabfall, Bioabfall, Gartenabfall
• (decline): Druckabfall (decline of pressure)

Related terms

• Beifall

Descendants

• → Polish: abfal (obsolete)

Further reading

• “Abfall”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[2] (in German)
• “Abfall” in Duden online