abgestanden

Abgestanden is a German adjective and the past participle form of the verb abstehen. It describes something that has stood for a period and thus lost freshness, vitality, or immediacy. The term is commonly used for liquids or air that have aged or become stale, but it can also apply to foods, smells, or even ideas and humor that feel dull or passé.

In usage, abgestanden conveys a negative evaluation of freshness or originality. Typical examples include abgestandenes Wasser (stale water) or abgestandene Luft (stale air). Metaphorically, one can speak of abgestandene Witze, abgestandene Mode, or abgestandenes Denken to indicate that something is no longer lively or relevant.

Grammatically, abgestanden can be used attributively as abgestandenes Wasser or abgestandene Luft, and predicatively as Das Wasser ist abgestanden. Like other participles used as adjectives, its endings follow standard German agreement rules for gender, number, and case.

Etymologically, the form originates from the verb abstehen, with the participle used adjectivally to describe something that has "stood" in a way that caused it to lose freshness or modernity. In contemporary usage, abgestanden remains common in everyday German, especially in contexts emphasizing lack of freshness, but it can carry a slightly literary or ironic tone when applied to non-food things.

See also: stale, ranzig, fade, outdated.