Abseil

The English verb abseil is taken from the German compound verb abseilen. Ab means from, away, or downwards in German compound words, the German noun Seil means simply rope, and the suffix -en creates the infinitive form of a verb. In Alpinism this denotes travel downwards along a rope, meaning one can rapidly descend a vertical face with a controlled slide along a rope, usually with a safety rope as backup. Abseiling has become an enjoyable activity away from mountaineering for the sheer joy of floating through the air, and is also a technique employed by emergency services.

Abseiling normally requires an anchored rope, a means or device of controlling movement by friction on the rope, and a safety rope attached to the abseiler and supervised from above. In the USA abseiling is usually described as rappelling, from the French verb rappeler, meaning to recall or call back.