dienliche

Dienliche is a German adjective meaning useful, serviceable, or advantageous, especially in the sense of being appropriate for a given purpose. It derives from dienen, meaning to serve, combined with the adjectival suffix -lich. In modern German, dienlich is usually employed in formal or technical language rather than everyday speech. The attributive form dienliche appears before feminine or neuter singular nouns, as in eine dienliche Lösung or die dienliche Maßnahme, while other endings appear for different genders and cases.

The nuance of dienlich emphasizes suitability for a specific task and carries a neutral to mildly evaluative tone. It is commonly used in contexts such as evaluation, planning, or analysis, where something is judged to be useful or appropriate for achieving a goal.

Common collocations include dienliche Hinweise (useful indications), dienliche Mittel (appropriate means), dienliche Beweise (sufficient or corroborating evidence), and zweckdienliche Lösungen (fit-for-purpose solutions). The term may also appear in legal, administrative, or technical German, and can appear in historical texts with the same basic sense.

In English translations, dienlich is typically rendered as useful, serviceable, or fit for purpose. It is closely related to nützlich (practical usefulness) and to zweckdienlich, which more explicitly denotes suitability to a particular purpose. The choice between these terms depends on the desired nuance and the formality of the context. Example: Die vorgeschlagenen Maßnahmen sind dienlich, um die Effizienz zu erhöhen. The proposed measures are useful for increasing efficiency.