Bortgivet

Bortgivet is a Swedish past participle used to describe something or someone that has been given away, relinquished, or handed over to others. It commonly appears in contexts involving adoption, foster care, or surrendering ownership of objects or animals. As an attributive adjective, it can modify a noun, for example ett bortgivet barn (a child who has been given up) or ett bortgivet husdjur (a pet that has been surrendered).

Usage and nuance

Bortgivet emphasizes the act of relinquishment rather than a voluntary gift. It is often found in legal, historical, or descriptive writing to indicate that the subject has been placed with another party or outside the original custody or ownership. The term can apply to people, animals, or possessions. In everyday speech, more specific terms are often used depending on context, such as adopterad (adopted), överlämnat (handed over), or placerad (placed).

Relation to related terms

The word is related to the prefix bort- meaning away and to verbs meaning to give away or transfer. In older Swedish, forms related to bortgifta (to marry off) share a semantic field with relinquishment, though bortgivet today is more commonly tied to relinquishment, adoption, or surrender rather than marriage arrangements.

See also

Bortgift, ge bort, adoption, fosterhem, adoption law, relinquishment.