gewaschen

Gewaschen is the past participle of the German verb waschen, meaning washed. It denotes that something has been cleaned. It is used with the auxiliary haben to form perfect tenses, for example: Ich habe die Kleidung gewaschen. It can also function as an adjective, describing a noun as having undergone washing: die gewaschene Wäsche.

Etymology and form: The form gewaschen uses the prefix ge- with the verb stem wasch-, following the standard German pattern for past participles of many verbs. It is an irregular participle in its stem form and is not a separable-prefix verb like abwaschen. When used attributively, the adjective ending agrees with the noun (gewaschene Wäsche, gewaschenes Hemd).

Usage: In everyday language, gewaschen describes items that have been cleaned (Kleidung, Geschirr). It appears in perfect constructions such as Ich habe die Wäsche gewaschen. Figuratively, it can describe colors or appearances as faded or muted, for example gezeichnete/gewaschene Farben, meaning washed-out colors. In economic language, the phrase ge-was-chenes Geld can refer to money that has been laundered; more common terminology for the illicit process is Geldwäsche.

See also: The base verb waschen, its other tenses and participles, and related terms such as Geldwäsche (money laundering) and ge- prefix usage in German grammar.

Overall, gewaschen is a versatile German participle used primarily to express completed washing, with extending uses in descriptive and metaphorical contexts.