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to leave open
To deliberately leave a question or matter open, undecided, or unanswered because it is not important or cannot be clarified.
Ob er es absichtlich getan hat oder nicht, sei einmal dahingestellt – der Schaden ist da.
Whether he did it deliberately or not, let's leave that open for now—the damage is done.
The word consists of 'dahin' (there/to that place) and 'gestellt' (past participle of 'stellen' (to put/place)). The figurative idea is that you 'put' a question or problem 'there' and do not pay further attention to it for the time being.
Wir lassen diese Detailfrage erst einmal dahingestellt und konzentrieren uns auf das Hauptproblem.
Let's leave this detail question open for now and concentrate on the main problem.
This word is used almost only in two fixed constructions: 'Es sei dahingestellt, ob/wie/warum ...' (it remains open whether/how/why ...) or 'etwas dahingestellt sein lassen' (to leave something open). It is not used like a normal adjective before a noun.
Es sei dahingestellt, ob diese Entscheidung richtig war.
It remains open whether this decision was right.
The expression 'dahingestellt sein lassen' (to leave open) belongs to formal written language. It is often found in academic, legal, or official texts, but rarely in everyday speech.
In der Untersuchung soll dahingestellt bleiben, welche persönlichen Motive die Person hatte.
The investigation should leave open what personal motives the person had.
to postpone / put back
Anyone who leaves a question dahingestellt keeps it open without announcing a later decision. Zurückstellen, by contrast, means postponing the matter for now and taking it up again later. For a deliberately unanswered question, dahingestellt is appropriate; for a planned postponement, use zurückstellen.
Ob der Umbau nötig ist, lässt der Ausschuss dahingestellt.
The committee leaves open whether the renovation is necessary.
Die Frage, ob der Umbau nötig ist, stellt der Ausschuss bis Juni zurück.
The committee is postponing the question of whether the renovation is necessary until June.
