definierte

Definierte is the past participle and an attributive adjective derived from the German verb definieren, meaning to define. In German, definierte also serves as the simple past tense form (Präteritum) for ich er definierte, er definierte, and so on. As an adjective, it conveys that something has been defined or specified. The term appears across disciplines such as mathematics, logic, linguistics, computer science, law, and general usage, where it characterizes terms, variables, rules, or concepts with an explicit definition.

Grammatical use and inflection: When used before a noun with a definite article, definite endings apply (for example, der definierte Begriff, die definierte Regel, das definierte Ergebnis). Plural forms include die definierten Begriffe, die definierten Regeln, and similar constructions. The past participle, used with auxiliary haben to form the perfect tense, is definiert.

Etymology and history: definieren is built on the Latin definire, with influence from related Romance languages. The German verb entered common use in the modern era, and definierte developed as both the preterite form and as the basis for the attributive adjective form. The semantic core—“having been defined”—remains stable across contexts.

Usage in fields: In mathematics and computer science, definierte terms often describe objects that have precise, pre-established meanings, such as definierte Variablen or definierte Funktionen. In philosophy and logic, it appears in phrases like definierte Begriffe or definierteThemen, indicating concepts specified by a definition. In legal or formal documents, definierte Bedingungen or definierte Kriterien signal that certain standards are fixed by a definition.

See also: definieren, definierte Begriffe, definierte Mengen.