Schadens

Schadens is the genitive form associated with the German noun Schaden, meaning damage or harm. In usage, Schadens appears mainly in compounds and fixed expressions to indicate “of damage” or to form terms related to damages in legal, insurance, and financial contexts. It is not commonly used as an independent noun outside these compounds.

Key uses and examples include Schadenshöhe (the amount of damage), Schadensersatz (damages or compensation for damages), Schadensfall (an instance of damage or a damage event), Schadensmeldung (a damage report), and Schadensersatzpflicht (the obligation to pay damages). The prefix Schadens- signals attribution to damage rather than introducing a separate word.

In German law and insurance, damages are discussed in terms of material (Sachschaden, Vermögensschaden) and immaterial losses. Schadensersatz refers to the remedy or compensation owed to the injured party, while Schadenshöhe indicates the monetary extent of the damage. The term Schadens is therefore common in legal and technical language, but in English translations it is typically rendered as “damages” or, when describing the damage itself, “of damage.”

Etymology and form: Schadens derives from Schaden, with the genitive suffix -s, and is used as a bound morpheme in compounds such as Schadenshöhe, Schadensersatz, and Schadensfall. This pattern is characteristic of German compounding, where the base noun remains understood while the surrounding term specifies the context of damage.