Tödlichen

Tödlichen is the inflected form of the German adjective tödlich, meaning deadly or lethal. It is not a standalone noun, but occurs as part of attributive phrases in various grammatical cases and genders. The form tödlichen is typically seen in contexts where the adjective is declined to match a feminine noun in genitive singular (der tödlichen Krankheit), or in plural or feminine forms in other cases (mit tödlichen Verletzungen, den tödlichen Folgen).

Etymology and meaning

Tödlich derives from the older Germanic roots for death, combining the idea of lethality with the suffix -lich. The resulting adjective is used in safety, medical, legal, and media language to describe substances, injuries, risks, or consequences that can result in death. The corresponding noun is Tödlichkeit, meaning lethality or lethality level.

Usage and examples

Tödlichen appears in contexts where the declined adjective describes a feminine or plural noun in cases such as dative plural or genitive singular. Examples include:

- mit tödlichen Verletzungen (dative plural)

- der tödlichen Krankheit (genitive singular feminine)

- den tödlichen Folgen (dative plural)

These phrases illustrate how the ending -en signals the specific grammatical role of tödlichen within a sentence.

Related terms

Related linguistic forms include tödlich (positive form) and Tödlichkeit (the noun for lethality). In toxicology and risk assessment, concepts of lethality are often quantified using measures such as LD50, which indicates the dose required to kill 50% of a test population.

See also

Tödlichkeit, tödlich, LD50.