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I didn't understand the difference between Bild, Abbild and Abbildung. From Wikipedia:

Abbild bezeichnet ein Bild und seine Beziehung zu einem darauf abgebildeten wiedererkennbaren Gegenstand.

I found this definition very abstract. Could someone show me more concrete examples?

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    Vor allem ist die Erklärung massiv tautologisch und daher Mist.
    – user unknown
    Commented Jan 2, 2015 at 6:44
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    @userunknown erinnert mich an den schönen Satz eines Lehrers, mit dem er solche verschwurbelten Konstrukte zu kommentieren pflegte: "Das Fundament ist die Grundlage der Basis"
    – Volker Landgraf
    Commented Oct 14, 2019 at 11:08
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    If you translate Bild -> image, Abbild -> depiction and Abbildung -> figure, illustration, you should fare quite well.
    – Frank from Frankfurt
    Commented Apr 29, 2020 at 18:13

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"Bild" means just picture.

"Abbild" means a picture or object that closely resembles an original picture or object (or at least is intended to resemble it). But the word is only rarely used.

"Abbildung" has two common meanings:

a) A construction method to create an "Abbild" out of an "Bild", for example in geometry or optics, or simply the (internal technical) process that happens in a camera while taking a photograph.

b) More confusingly, "Abbildung" can also mean just a picture in a document, especially in scientific texts where the pictures are numbered and referenced. "Ein Beispiel dafür ist in Abbildung 2.3 zu sehen."

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    Meaning (b) is usually called "figure" in English texts.
    – celtschk
    Commented Feb 16, 2015 at 23:06
  • Meaning (b) can also be called "illustration", I find it often in official reports, for instance for a representation of a process with arrows, rectangles, etc.
    – Sylvain Gadenne
    Commented Jun 10 at 8:26
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Abbild could be distinguished as a synonym of Kopie, the latter being the standard expression nowadays. Proper equivalents in English would be replica, reproduction or facsimile. If you look closer, Abbild is something slightly different, as Kopie in general carries the connotation of a model having been duplicated without inspiration, whereas Abbild does not. Anyway, Abbild has never been used for written documents, where "Abschrift" was the proper choice. The Abbild usually transfers more substantial properties of the model to the duplicate: Das Abbild eines Hauses may be a house itself, whereas die Abbildung eines Hauses is certainly not.

Abbildung in most cases means illustration, figure etc., but it can also indicate an analogy of a more abstract nature.

Bild has the most general range of meanings of the three, and its particular meaning very much depends on the context. The most common meanings are:

  1. a picture on the wall: Er besaß mehrere Bilder von Picasso
  2. a mental picture: Er wollte sich von der Situation ein Bild machen
  3. a memory: Das Bild von dem Unfallwagen ging ihr nicht aus dem Kopf
  4. a sight: Die Elefantenherde bot ein majestätisches Bild
  5. an illustration: Es war ein Buch mit vielen Bildern
  6. a metaphor: Der Schriftsteller sprach gern in Bildern
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With that question you get a lot of Germans into a jam. Me too. I can only try.

Bild is the most general word for anything that gives a visual representation of someone or something, just as English picture. A Bild can be a painting on a wall or a photo in a newspaper or a child's drawing.

Abbildung is just a variant for Bild. As it is much longer you won't hear it very often in spoken language. In books that have a lot of photos of objects you can find the abbreviation Abb.for Abbildung + a number. Abbildung is mostly used for pictures made with a camera, not for paintings or drawings, a mechanical reproduction of an object.

Abbild is another variant of Bild. Not frequently used. I can't think of a typical situation where I would use Abbild. Actually I think you can forget Abbild and Abbildung in your active vocabulary. All you have to know is that they are variants for Bild.

Ebenbild

Another variant, used only in religious context and the sentence: Der Mensch ist das Ebenbild Gottes (Man is the image of God). The old word element Eben- expresses the idea of similarity.

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    Also note that in mathematics Abbildung has additional meanings.
    – Hulk
    Commented Jan 2, 2015 at 8:35
  • Bild too (eg. Bildmenge, depending on the context)
    – deviantfan
    Commented Jan 7, 2015 at 0:16
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I think this can go darn philosophical... Bild being an image... weather it is a picture or a representation, physical or mental of an object... that what exists in the real of truth and ideal word according to platon. ABBILD would be more the representation of this ideal world. A slightly different copy of that reality... it being not the original image but a representation of it.likee an image of an object being its Bild and its representation being its Abbild. And Abbildung would be the process of it. Although it os used in german also to imply the word picture. It might help to read platon and mitchells theoty of the image

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    While you are correct that this topic can go philosophical, it would be good to focus on the language aspect in your answer. Maybe you can edit it and reset the focus. It should be possible to learn and understand vocabulary to some extend without reading Platon and Mitchells first :)
    – Arsak
    Commented Apr 30, 2020 at 10:28

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