datierten

Datierten is a German term that arises from the verb daten or datieren, meaning to assign or indicate a date. It is used in two main grammatical roles: as a finite verb form in the past tense and as an attributive adjective describing nouns with a date. In practice, it signals that something has been dated or bears a date.

As a finite verb, dati erten appears in the past tense for third-person plural: sie datierten die Funde auf das 4. Jahrhundert. This form is typical of the imperfect (Präteritum) narration in German. In other tenses, the related participle forms are used with auxiliary verbs (for example hat datiert in the perfect). As an attributive adjective, dati erten is used before plural nouns to mean “dated” or “with a date,” as in die datierten Dokumente or die datierten Briefe.

Datierten is most common in scholarly, archival, archaeological, and historical writing, where precise dating of artifacts, documents, or events is essential. It helps distinguish items by their assigned date, aiding cataloging, provenance discussion, and chronological analysis. The sense is neutral and factual, without implying any value judgment about the dated items.

Etymologically, datierten derives from the noun Datum (date) via the verb datieren, which in turn comes from the Latin datum meaning “given” or “that which is given,” reflecting the act of assigning a date. The suffix -ieren is a productive German formation for verbs borrowed or adapted from other languages, often describing a deliberate action.

See also: Datum, datieren, daten.