Geborgt

Geborgt is the past participle of the German verb borgen, meaning to lend or, from the borrower’s perspective, to borrow. In standard usage geborgt marks the act of lending something to someone else by the subject, for example: Ich habe dir das Buch geborgt. This sentence means “I lent you the book.” The perfect tense is formed with haben.

As an adjective, geborgt can describe the thing that has been lent or borrowed, typically in the phrase das geborgte Buch, meaning “the borrowed book.” The sense depends on context: geborgt points to the action of lending (from the lender’s side) or, when used attributively, to the state of being borrowed (from the borrower’s side).

Frequency and usage notes: geborgt is comparatively rare in contemporary standard German. Most speakers use geliehen or ausgeliehen instead of geborgt when discussing lending, or use ausborgen for the act of borrowing from someone else. Geborgt remains more common in older texts, certain dialects, or literary contexts.

Etymology: geborgt derives from the Middle High German verb borgen, meaning to lend, with the ge- prefix forming the past participle, a pattern typical for German strong verbs.

See also: geliehen, ausgeliehen, ausborgen, Geborgte.