Støttende

Støttende is a Norwegian adjective meaning providing support or backing. It comes from the verb støtte, to support, and is used to describe people, roles, environments, or pieces of evidence that offer support. The term has cognates in other Scandinavian languages, such as Danish støttende and Swedish stödjande.

Common usages include describing a person who offers help (en støttende lærer), a role focused on assistance (en støttende rolle), or an environment that facilitates others (et støttende arbeidsmiljø). It can also describe non-human things, for example støttende bevis or støttende data that underpins an argument, or støttende omsorg in healthcare contexts.

In grammar, støttende is an adjective that agrees with the noun in number and definiteness: en støttende kollega, et støttende miljø, de støttende kollegene. It can appear before the noun (støttende) or after the verb to be in predicative use: Læreren var støttende.

See also: støtte, støttemur, and related terms such as underbyggende or omsorgsfull, which describe complementary notions of backing and support within different contexts.