gegangener

Gegangener is a form of the German verb gehen (to go) that appears as a participial adjective rather than as an independent lexical item. It is not a common stand-alone noun in contemporary standard German; rather, gegangener functions as the inflected past participle gegangen used to describe something that has passed or is former.

As an attributive adjective, gegangener inflects like other adjectives. For masculine nominative singular it is gegangener; for feminine it is gegangene; for neuter gegangenes; and for plural gegangene. The sense conveyed is typically “having gone” or “past.” In practice, gegangene is most often found in poetic or formal contexts, for example in phrases like gegangene Zeiten (times gone by) or gegangene Tage (days past).

In everyday or formal prose, many speakers prefer synonyms such as vergangene or frühere, which are clearer and more common: vergangene Zeiten, frühere Wege. In some historical or liturgical uses, the word may appear with a meaning akin to “the departed” or “the dead,” but this is archaic or stylistically marked; standard language would normally use verstorbene Personen or die Verstorbenen.

Etymology and usage context: gegangener derives from gehen with the prefix ge- and the participial ending, reflecting its origin as a past participle used adjectivally. Because it is a participial form rather than a stable lexical item, its usage is tied to stylistic choices and can appear stylistically marked or literary.

Summary: gegangener is a grammatically inflected participial adjective tied to the notion of something that has passed; its everyday usefulness is limited, with vergangene or frühere as the common alternatives.