abhanden
German
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Middle High German. By surface analysis, ab + Handen (now Händen).
Pronunciation
[edit]Adverb
[edit]abhanden
- gone, lost
- 1901, “Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen [I am lost to the world]”, Friedrich Rückert (lyrics), Gustav Mahler (music):
- Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen, / Mit der ich sonst viele Zeit verdorben, / Sie hat so lange nichts von mir vernommen, / Sie mag wohl glauben, ich sei gestorben!
- I am lost to the world / with which I used to waste so much time; / it has heard nothing from me for so long, / it may well believe that I am dead!
Usage notes
[edit]Nowadays, abhanden is only used with the verb kommen.
Derived terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “abhanden” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache