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Eigenschaft

Eigenschaft is a German noun meaning attribute, characteristic, or property. It denotes an aspect or feature that can be used to describe or distinguish something, such as a thing, concept, process, or system. In everyday language it is often used interchangeably with Merkmal or Attribut, though subtle differences exist: Eigenschaft emphasizes inherent qualities, while Merkmal can refer to a distinguishing mark.

Etymology and usage notes: the term comes from Middle High German eigenschafft, formed from eigen (own) and

In philosophy and logic, Eigenschaften are properties or predicates that can be ascribed to objects. A property

In science and everyday use, statements about properties describe measurable or observable characteristics: mass, temperature, density,

See also: attribute, feature, predicate, property (philosophy).

schaft.
In
German,
the
word
is
common
across
disciplines
and
is
used
both
in
descriptive
and
evaluative
senses.
can
be
monadic
(applicable
to
a
single
object)
and
is
often
expressed
as
a
logical
predicate
such
as
"ist
rot"
or
"hat
die
Eigenschaft
der
Transparenz."
In
mathematics
and
formal
sciences,
properties
denote
features
shared
by
members
of
a
set
or
by
mathematical
structures,
such
as
symmetry
or
continuity.
solubility,
hardness,
or
reactivity.
Intrinsic
properties
depend
only
on
the
object
itself
(independent
of
context),
while
extrinsic
or
state-dependent
properties
may
vary
with
conditions
like
pressure
or
phase.
In
engineering
and
programming,
Eigenschaften
describe
the
state
of
objects
or
data
structures;
in
object-oriented
programming,
they
are
often
called
attributes
or
fields
that
store
information
about
an
object's
state.