Durchgestrichene

Durchgestrichene is the past participle and adjective form of the German verb durchstreichen, meaning text or items that have been marked with a line through them. It describes deletions, cancellations or revisions, typically indicating that something is no longer valid or should be ignored. As an attributive adjective it can take different endings: der durchgestrichene Text, die durchgestrichenen Passagen, eine durchgestrichene Option.

Etymology and meaning: The term combines durch- (through) with streichen (to stroke, to strike). In this sense, to “strike through” a word or passage visually signals that it should be disregarded, even if the word remains visible for reference or historical context.

Grammatical use: In German, durchgestrichen is used to describe text or lists where items have been crossed out. It is common in editing, proofreading and revision notes. The plural form is durchgestrichene Passagen; the past participle can also function as a predicate adjective in some constructions, e.g., Die Passage ist durchgestrichen.

Typographic and digital representation: Traditionally, a horizontal line is drawn through the text. In digital media this is often rendered with markup such as the HTML elements del or s, or with CSS text-decoration: line-through. In Markdown and similar formats, strikethrough is conveyed with specific syntax (for example, text surrounded by markers) or equivalent styling. Unicode provides combining diacritic methods to achieve a strikethrough as well.

Usage context: Durchgestrichene text is common in editing, redaction, and informal communication to indicate removal or revision. In formal writing, it is usually replaced by revised phrasing, brackets, or footnotes instead.