Unterzogen

Unterzogen is the past participle form of the German verb unterziehen, meaning to subject something to a procedure or to undergo a procedure oneself. It is used in contexts such as tests, examinations, treatments, or inspections, and can apply to both objects and people depending on the construction.

The verb unterziehen is a separable-prefix verb. In perfect tenses, the past participle remains unterzogen and appears with the auxiliary haben or in passive constructions with sein or werden. For reflexive use, the common form is sich einer Prüfung unterziehen or sich einer Untersuchung unterziehen, meaning to undergo a test or examination yourself. For example: Der Patient hat sich einer Operation unterzogen. The patient underwent an operation. Another example: Das System wurde einer Sicherheitsprüfung unterzogen, meaning the system was subjected to a safety review.

Usage notes and typical collocations include undergoing medical procedures (sich einer Untersuchung unterziehen), undergoing tests or audits (e.g., einer Prüfung unterziehen), and subjecting objects or systems to evaluation (etwas einer Prüfung unterziehen). The expression emphasizes the action of submitting to or accepting a process imposed or undertaken by an external agent or circumstance.

Etymologically, unterziehen combines unter- (under, undergo) with ziehen (to pull or draw), and the sense evolved to mean bringing something under the influence or scrutiny of a procedure. While primarily used in formal or technical language, it remains a common idiom in medical, legal, and safety contexts.