Überwiegenden

Überwiegenden is the declined form of the German adjective überwiegend, meaning predominant or prevailing. It is used to describe the main part or majority of something and appears in various gender, number, and case forms.

Etymology and meaning: überwiegend comes from über- (over, chiefly) and wiegend (a participial form related to wiegen, to weigh). Semantically, it signals predominance or preponderance rather than literal weighing.

Grammatical use: The form überwiegenden occurs in several inflected positions, especially after definite articles. Examples include: der überwiegende Anteil (nominative masculine singular), die überwiegende Mehrheit (nominative feminine singular), die überwiegenden Anteile (nominative plural). Other cases include dem überwiegenden Anteil (dative masculine singular), des überwiegenden Anteils (genitive masculine singular), der überwiegenden Mehrheit (genitive feminine singular), und den überwiegenden Anteilen (dative plural). In predicate position, the adverbial form überwiegend is common: Der Anteil ist überwiegend negativ.

Usage: Überwiegend is frequent in formal, academic, and statistical contexts to express proportions, distributions, or trends, for example regarding Anteil, Teil, Mehrheit, Bevölkerung, Gruppe oder Kategorie. It can be complemented by synonyms such as vorwiegend, which has a similar meaning but a slightly different nuance. Antonyms might include untergeordnet or von geringer Bedeutung, depending on context.

See also: überwiegend, vorwiegend, Mehrheit, Anteil, Teil.