afløbe

Afløbe is a Danish verb that appears in two related senses, though in modern standard Danish the sense of replacing or relieving someone on duty is usually expressed with afløse. In a hydraulic or physical sense, afløbe means to drain away or to run off, as in water flowing through a channel or away from a surface. In older or dialectal usage, it can also mean to relieve or replace someone in a duty.

Etymology and scope: The word derives from af- meaning away and løbe meaning to run, with the literal sense of running away or off. This core idea of movement away from a point extended to the discharge of liquids and, by extension, to the notion of one person taking over from another.

Usage notes: In contemporary Danish, the verb most commonly used to describe someone taking over another’s duty is afløse. Afløbe is less frequent and tends to appear in older texts, regional dialects, or in technical/hydraulic contexts to describe water that drains away. Related nouns include afløb (drain, outlet) and afløbsrør (drain pipe).

Examples:

- Vandet afløber gennem afløbet. (The water drains away through the drain.)

- Historisk kunne en vagt afløbes af en anden. (Historically, a guard could be relieved by another.)

See also: afløse, afløb, afløbsanlæg.