greifende

Greifende is the present participle form of the German verb greifen, meaning to grasp or seize. In usage, greifende generally functions as an adjective meaning “grasping” or “gripping,” and can describe physical actions as well as figurative acts of taking hold.

In standard German, greifende is placed before a noun and inflected like a normal adjective. Examples include greifende Hände (grasping hands), greifende Bewegungen (grasping movements), and eine greifende Geste (a grasping gesture). The form changes with the gender, number, and case of the noun it modifies, following ordinary German adjective-declension patterns. In rare stylistic cases, the word can be nominalized by capitalization (Greifende), but such usage is uncommon and typically reserved for literary or rhetorical effect.

Etymology: the form derives from the verb greifen, combined with the present-participle suffix -ende. The underlying verb greifen itself traces to older Germanic roots related to seizing or grabbing.

Usage notes: greifende is most commonly encountered as an attributive adjective directly before a noun. While the present participle can occur in other syntactic positions, the attributive use described here is the standard and widely understood meaning of greifende in contemporary German.

See also: greifen, Griff, Geste, Bewegungen, participles in German.