ausleihend

Ausleihend is a German present participle (Partizip I) formed from the verb ausleihen, meaning to lend out or to loan. In usage it functions as an adjective or attributive participle and is used to describe agents or actions involved in lending items on a loan basis. Commonly it appears in compounds such as ausleihende Bibliothek or ausleihende Einrichtung, roughly translated as lending or lending-out library/institution. The term is distinct from ausgeliehen, the past participle meaning "loaned" or "on loan," which describes the state of an item rather than the act or agent of lending.

In practical contexts, ausleihend is found in library, archival, and museum language to label services or organizations that provide loans of books, media, or artifacts. It may appear in documentation, catalogs, or signage to indicate that a particular facility offers borrowing services. In modern German, the adjective typically remains uninflected when used in certain compound nouns, and inflected forms appear when used attributively before a noun (e.g., eine ausleihende Bibliothek).

Etymology: ausleihen + participle I. The form follows standard German grammar for present participles and is related to the noun Ausleihe (loan).