Geleken

Geleken is a Dutch word that functions primarily as the past participle of the verb gelijken, which means to resemble or to compare. In everyday speech, more common verbs for these ideas are lijken (to resemble) and vergelijken (to compare). Gelijken tends to appear in formal, historical, or literary contexts and is also found in fixed noun forms such as gelijkenis, which denotes likeness or resemblance.

Etymology and related forms: Geleken originates from Middle Dutch gelîken, linked to the adjective gelijk, meaning equal or similar. The word belongs to a family of Dutch terms related to likeness and similarity, including gelijkenis (resemblance), gelijk (equal/similar), and vergelijken (to compare).

Grammar and usage: As a past participle, geleken is used in compound tenses with auxiliary verbs and in certain formal constructions. Because gelijken is comparatively rare in modern spoken Dutch, geleken is most often encountered in written language, especially in historical texts or in discussions of language history and morphology. For everyday usage, speakers typically rely on vormen derived from lijken or vergelijken.

Context and scope: The concept of likeness is central to geleken, with close semantic ties to what is described as gelijkenis (resemblance) and to the broader idea of comparing or matching features. The term thus appears mainly in linguistic, literary, or philological contexts, rather than as a common everyday verb.

See also: Lijken, Gelijkenis, Gelijk, Vergelijking, Vergelijken.