Ausbreitende

Ausbreitende is the present participle form of the German verb ausbreiten, meaning to spread or to widen. In usage, it functions as an attributive adjective that describes something in the process of spreading or expanding, rather than a completed state. The form integrates with German declension, varying by gender, number, and case, for example ausbreitender Kausalität (masculine singular nominative), ausbreitende Epidemie (feminine singular nominative), or ausbreitende Phänomene (plural).

Morphology and grammar notes: As a present participle adjective, ausbreitende follows the typical adjective endings in German. Without a determiner, strong declension yields phrases like ausbreitendes Phänomen; with definite articles you get der ausbreitende Einfluss, die ausbreitende Welle. The corresponding past participle is ausgebreitet, used to denote a completed spread (e.g., eine bereits ausgebreitete Fläche).

Usage and nuance: Ausbreitende emphasizes ongoing spread, diffusion, or expansion. It is common in scientific, journalistic, and descriptive prose to characterize processes such as disease transmission, technology dissemination, or ecological range expansion. It can describe physical, social, or conceptual spread: a spreading epidemic (eine ausbreitende Epidemie), spreading technologies (ausbreitende Technologien), or an expanding influence (ausbreitender Einfluss). In contrast, ausgebreitet conveys that the spreading has already occurred.

See also: Ausbreitung, ausbreiten, ausgebreitet, ausbreitend, verbreiten, Verbreitung. These terms relate to the act of spreading, its process, and its result, and are commonly used in German-language texts to discuss diffusion phenomena.