gesetzlichen

Gesetzlichen is an inflected form of the German adjective gesetzlich, which means legal or statutory. It is used to describe nouns in contexts related to laws, regulations, or legal obligations. Like other German adjectives, gesetzlich changes its ending to match the case, gender, and number of the noun it modifies.

In practice, gesetzlichen appears in several common forms, typically with a determiner or in plural contexts. Examples include des gesetzlichen Rahmens (genitive masculine singular), dem gesetzlichen Rahmen (dative masculine singular), der gesetzlichen Regelung (dative or genitive feminine singular), and die gesetzlichen Regelungen (nominative or accusative plural with a definite article). Without a determiner, the strong declension yields forms such as gesetzlicher Rahmen (nominative masculine singular) or gesetzliche Regelung (nominative feminine singular). The ending -en is therefore a hallmark of the adjective’s inflection in many case/gender combinations when the noun is accompanied by a determiner or when the plural form is involved.

Common uses of gesetzlichen include legal provisions, statutory frameworks, and regulatory requirements. It occurs frequently in official language, policy documents, and news reporting, as in phrases like gesetzliche Bestimmungen, gesetzliche Fristen, or gesetzliche Grundlagen. The word carries the same core meaning as gesetzlich but must be read as part of a declined phrase that signals the specific legal or statutory relationship to the noun it modifies.

Etymologically, gesetzlich derives from Gesetz, meaning law, with the adding suffix -lich to form an adjective. It is closely related to other legal terms and forms a central part of German legal and administrative vocabulary.