elaborierten

Elaborierten is the simple past tense form (Präteritum) of the German verb elaborieren. It corresponds to the English “they elaborated” or, with formal address, “you elaborated.” The form is used with plural subjects or with the formal pronoun Sie. The standard perfect form is elaboriert, as in Sie haben elaboriert.

Etymology and meaning: Elaborieren is a loanword in German, borrowed from French élaborer (to develop, refine) and ultimately from Latin elaborare (to work out, to produce by labor). In German, elaborieren means to develop in detail, to refine, or to expand an argument, plan, or product with additional details and considerations.

Usage: The term appears mainly in academic, technical, or descriptive prose. Elaborieren emphasizes a deliberate process of adding detail or precision to something, such as a hypothesis, methodology, or proposal. In everyday language, speakers may prefer synonyms like ausarbeiten, detaillieren, or erklären, depending on nuance.

Examples:

- Die Forscher elaborierten ihre Hypothese anhand zusätzlicher Daten.

- Die Autorin elaborierte ihre Argumentation in mehreren Kapiteln.

Notes: The form elaborierten is most natural when the subject is plural (sie/elaborierten) or when using the formal Sie in the past tense. In many contexts, authors might choose alternatives such as ausarbeiten or detaillieren to convey similar meaning with different emphasis.