Freigesetzt

Freigesetzt is the past participle of the German verb freisetzen and is used to describe that something has been released, freed, or unleashed. The term appears in everyday language as well as in scientific, industrial, and environmental contexts. As an adjective, it can modify nouns to indicate a state of liberation, for example freigesetzte Energie or freigesetzte Substanzen.

Etymology and form: Freisetzen is built from frei (free) and setzen (to set/place). It is a separable verb, and its past participle is freigesetzt. In most tenses it takes the auxiliary haben, as in Die Firma hat neue Mittel freigesetzt. In passive constructions the form occurs as Die Schadstoffe wurden freigesetzt.

Usage: In a human context, freigesetzt can refer to someone being released from custody or confinement, as in Der Gefangene ist freigesetzt worden. In scientific and technical language it describes the liberation of energy, gases, or particles during a process, for example Energie wird freigesetzt. It also denotes emissions or releases of substances in environmental reporting, such as Schadstoffe wurden freigesetzt.

Notes: Freigesetzt differs from freilassen, which more commonly emphasizes the act of letting a person go, whereas freisetzen emphasizes releasing something from a constrained or contained state. Related terms include Freisetzung (the noun form) and freisetzen (the verb).