Ausdruck

Ausdruck is a German noun (der Ausdruck) meaning expression or formulation. The term is polysemous and appears across languages, mathematics, computing, art, and everyday speech to denote the way something is expressed, a fixed phrase, a visible sign of emotion, or a printed or computed result.

Etymology: It derives from ausdrücken “to express,” from durch “through” + drücken “to press,” originally implying to press or squeeze something out and thus to convey meaning.

Common senses include: in language, the expression of thoughts through wording or phrasing; a fixed phrase or idiom can be described as a linguistic Ausdruck; a facial expression is referred to as a Gesichtsausdruck; and expressions can also be artistic or rhetorical manifestations. In printing and computing, Ausdruck can mean a printout or the result produced by a device, for example Druckausdruck or computer output. In mathematics and programming, ein Ausdruck is a syntactic combination of symbols that evaluates to a value, such as 3 + 4 * 2 or a + b.

Usage notes: The word is broad and context determines whether it refers to language, emotion, mathematics, or technical output. It overlaps with related terms like Redewendung, Ausdrucksweise, and Gesichtsausdruck, but remains a general term for expression or form.

See also: Gesichtsausdruck; Redewendung; Ausdrucksweise; Ausdruck (Mathematik); Ausdruck (Programmierung).