Abstehende

Abstehende is a German adjective form derived from the verb abstehen, meaning to stand away or protrude. The term is used to describe something that projects from a surface or from its surroundings, or that remains separated from a reference part. It is commonly encountered in descriptions of physical features, such as protruding ears (abstehende Ohren), edges or rims that do not lie flush with a body, and plant or object parts that extend outward.

Etymologically, abstehen combines the prefix ab- with stehen, signaling a movement away from a point of reference. The participle form abstehend funciona as an attributive adjective, and its exact ending (as in abstehende) adapts to gender, number, and case of the noun it modifies.

In use, abstehende appears in various domains, including anatomy, architecture, botany, and everyday description. Examples include abstehende Ränder an einer Oberfläche, abstehende Spitzen eines Gegenstands, or in medical contexts describing abstehende Ohren. The expression conveys a neutral descriptive quality, though in some contexts it can carry evaluative nuance depending on what is being described.

Grammatically, abstehende is most commonly seen in attributive position before a noun and changes form according to grammatical gender and case, consistent with other descriptive adjectives in German. It can also appear in predicative constructions with be- or link verbs, where the noun remains the subject and the adjective describes its state, as in Die Ohren sind abstehend.

See also: abstehen; protrusion; Ohrenanomalien.