gestreuten

Gestreuten is the past participle of the German verb streuen and, when used attributively, an adjective meaning that something has been spread or scattered in small portions. It is commonly used for physical dispersion, such as seeds, grain, or dust, but can also describe the spread of information or rumors.

In grammar, gestreuten takes the attributive form with definite determiners or with plural nouns: die gestreuten Körner (the scattered grains). It appears in the passive voice as gestreut: Die Körner wurden gestreut. The term shares the same basic sense as synonyms like verstreut or verteilt, but gestreuten often emphasizes a deliberate or distributed scattering action rather than merely being dispersed.

Common contexts include agriculture and gardening, where seeds or fertilizer are distributed; landscaping and hazard control, where granules are spread over an area; and journalism or everyday language, where gestreute Informationen or gestreute Gerüchte describe pieces of information or rumors that have been spread in parts rather than comprehensively.

Etymologically, gestreuten derives from the verb streuen, with the past participle gestreut and the attributive plural form gestreuten used before plural nouns after definite articles. The concept contrasts with more general terms for dispersion, such as verstreut, and is widely understood in everyday German as well as in technical or descriptive contexts.