Skip to content

Referat

oral presentation (school or university)

noun reh-feh-RAHT Rare
People & Society Education

Origin: from Latin referre (to report)

Also means

report, department

Usage Note

Referat is an oral presentation on a set topic delivered by a student in class, common in German schools and universities. Ein Referat halten (to give a presentation) is a standard assessment; the written version is sometimes called Ausarbeitung.

Examples

"Sie hielt ein Referat über den Zweiten Weltkrieg und bekam dafür eine Eins."

Natural Translation

She gave a presentation on the Second World War and received a top grade for it.

Literal Translation

She held a presentation about the Second World War and got for it a one.

Explore German by topic