particle
away-, off-
B1
Meaning 'away-'/'off-' used as a separable prefix or particle to indicate motion away (weggehen, wegnehmen). In main-clause finite forms it separates and goes to clause end: Er geht weg. No inflection; used to form verbs and discourse particles. Spanish equivalents: 'fuera-', 'lejos-'.
Examples
Das Präfix 'weg-' bedeutet 'away-' und zeigt Entfernung an.
The prefix 'weg-' means 'away-' and indicates distance.
In 'weglaufen' steht das 'weg-' für 'away-'.
In 'weglaufen' the 'weg-' stands for 'away-'.
Der Lehrer erläuterte das Präfix 'weg-', weil die Schüler die trennbaren Verben sonst falsch verwendeten.
The teacher explained the prefix 'weg-' because otherwise the students used the separable verbs incorrectly.
Details
Mnemonics
Imagine an arrow pointing away from a dot; the arrow is the 'weg-' prefix indicating 'away-'.
Think of English 'way' (path) — 'weg' often means movement away.
Notes
This entry is an affix/prefix. It is not a stand-alone word but appears attached to verbs and other words (e.g., weglaufen, wegwerfen) to indicate movement away or removal.