ausgeliehenen

Ausgeliehenen is the declined form of the past participle ausgeliehen, used in German as an attributive adjective describing objects that have been lent out to someone else. The verb ausleihen means to lend or to borrow, and the participle ausgeliehen indicates that the item is not currently in the owner’s possession but has already been transferred to a borrower.

As an attributive adjective, ausgeliehenen takes endings according to case, number, and gender. The form ausgeliehenen occurs mainly in the plural: die ausgeliehenen Bücher (nominative or accusative plural). In the dative plural it appears as den ausgeliehenen Gegenständen, and in the genitive plural as der ausgeliehenen Gegenstände. Without a definite determiner, the plural form would be ausgeliehene Bücher, ausgeliehene Gegenstände, etc.

Usage is common in contexts where lending or borrowed status is relevant, such as libraries, rental shops, museums, or media archives. Phrases like die ausgeliehenen Bücher, die ausgeliehenen DVDs oder die ausgeliehenen Gegenstände denote items that are currently checked out or temporarily owned by others. The term can also describe items in inventories or catalogs to indicate their current status as lent.

Etymology: ausgeliehenen derives from ausleihen, with the participle ausgeliehen functioning as an adjective. It conveys the state of possession (being lent) rather than a change of ownership. The base form for neuter singular is ausgeliehen, while plural forms require the -en ending in the attributive position.