Abhaken

Abhaken is a German verb formed with the separable prefix ab- and the verb haken (to hook). In its most common sense, it means to mark items on a list as completed or to remove them from the list, typically by placing a check mark or otherwise indicating they have been dealt with. The term is widely used in everyday language, project management, and task planning.

Beyond the figurative sense of marking items, abhaken can also refer to physically detaching or unhooking something that is held by a hook. In this sense the meaning is closer to “unhook” or “detach.” The two uses share the underlying idea of moving something from a pending state to a finished or separated state.

Grammatically, abhaken is a separable-prefix verb. In present tense, the prefix is separated and placed at the end of the clause (ich hake die Aufgaben von der Liste ab; er hakt die Punkte ab). The past participle is abgehakt, and the perfect tense is formed with haben (ich habe die Punkte abgehakt). As a noun, abhaken or Abhaken is sometimes used to refer to the act of marking items off a checklist, though this noun form is less common than the verb.

Common expressions include die Punkte abhaken (to tick off the items) and etwas abhaken (to settle or dismiss something, depending on context). In software development and workflow discussions, abhaken often appears in the sense of completing tasks or closing backlog items. Related terms in English include “check off” or “tick off.”