Plural: Abteilungen

Abbreviation: Abt

battalion; section; department

Used in a military context for units of about the same size as batallions.

Units referred to as an Abteilung generally had a greater level of independence than those referred to as a Bataillon. This could either be explicit, such as independent Tiger batallions, or implicit, such as the reconnaissance and tank destroyer battalions of a division. Conversely, units such as infantry battalions that were organised as part of infantry regiments were referred to as Bataillonen).

The word is or has been used more broadly to refer to subdivisions of different kinds, such as departments and divisions in companies and other organisations, bulkheads in ships, phylums in biology, and epochs in geology.

Related terms