Niedergelegte

Niedergelegte is the attributive form of the past participle niedergelegt from the German verb niederlegen. It functions as an adjective meaning laid down, deposited, or established, and it is used to describe a noun in contexts such as rules, laws, documents, or statements. For example: die niedergelegte Regel (the laid-down rule) or das niedergelegte Gesetz (the laid-down law).

In German grammar, this participial adjective inflects to agree with gender, number, and case. Typical forms include: masculine singular der niedergelegte Bericht; feminine singular die niedergelegte Regel; neuter singular das niedergelegte Gesetz; plural die niedergelegten Berichte (and similarly for other plural nouns). The common pattern is that feminine singular and similar forms often show the ending -e, while masculine and neuter forms adjust to der/das with endings such as -er or -es, and plural generally ends in -en or -e depending on case and article.

Usage notes: niedergelegt is used in the sense of something that has been relinquished, deposited, or formally set forth. When describing something that has been established or fixed by a person or authority, niedergelegt is frequently encountered in formal or legal, academic, or historical writing.

Nominalization: in rare cases, the participle can be nominalized as das Niedergelegte to refer to the thing that has been laid down. This usage is uncommon and typically found in specialized or legal prose.

See also: niederlegen, niederlegung, abgelegt, gelegt.