abtreiben
German, verb
abtreiben is spelled A-B-T-R-E-I-B-E-N (9 letters) and appears about once in every 1 million words in written German, the 43,786th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Abtreiben is a German verb meaning “to go/be sent off course” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Abtreiben is a different word: “gerund of abtreiben”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “etwas oder jemanden, welches oder welcher sich fliegend oder schwimmend bewegt, von einer Richtung ablenken”.
What does abtreiben mean in English?
verb
- 1
to go/be sent off course
- 2
to have an abortion (end one's pregnancy)
- 3
to abort (a pregnancy)
noun
- 1
neutergerund of abtreiben
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. etwas oder jemanden, welches oder welcher sich fliegend oder schwimmend bewegt, von einer Richtung ablenken 2. so auf den Körper eines Lebewesens einwirken, dass ein Fremdkörper und Fremdstoffe aus diesem ausgeschieden werden 3. die menschliche Schwangerschaft unterbrechen 4. eine Person oder Tier vertreiben
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of abtreiben
- treibt ab present singular third-person
- trieb ab past
- abgetrieben participle past
- haben auxiliary
- sein auxiliary
- 1 strong
- haben or sein auxiliary
- abtreibend participle present
- abzutreiben infinitive infinitive-zu
- treibe ab first-person indicative present
- treiben ab first-person indicative plural
- treibst ab indicative present second-person
- treibest ab second-person singular subjunctive
- treibet ab plural second-person subjunctive
- trieben ab first-person indicative plural
- triebe ab first-person formal rare
- triebst ab indicative preterite second-person
- triebt ab indicative plural preterite
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to abtreiben
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is abtreiben in German?
abtreiben appears about once in every 1 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).