Afleiden
Example: Het is moeilijk om je aandacht niet te laten afleiden tijdens het lezen.
Definition
"Afleiden" means to divert or shift attention away from a primary focus, often unintentionally, as in the example phrase where it describes the difficulty of not letting one's attention be distracted while reading.
Etymology
The Dutch word "afleiden" comes from the prefix 'af-', meaning 'off' or 'away', combined with 'leiden', meaning 'to lead'. Together, they literally mean 'to lead away', which perfectly captures the idea of diverting attention or focus. Did you know? This word shares roots with similar terms in other Germanic languages indicating distraction or diversion.
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"Afleiden" appears in the Vocaplus list "Dutch - Philosophy - (B1) - set 1", containing 105 commonly used words.
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