inserted

Inserted is the past tense and past participle of the verb insert. It denotes having been put or placed into something else, or having become a part of something. As an adjective, inserted describes something that has been placed inside another object, such as an inserted key, an inserted cable, or an implanted device.

Etymology: Inserted comes from the verb insert, which in turn derives from the Latin inserere, meaning to put into. The form passed into English via Old French insérer and Middle English development, with insert and its participles becoming common in modern usage.

Usage: In everyday language, inserted appears in sentences like: “She inserted the coin into the machine” or “The paragraph was inserted into the report.” In medicine, “The catheter was inserted under sterile conditions.” In biology and dentistry, one might speak of an implanted device inserted under the skin. In computing and data processing, phrases such as “a timestamp was inserted by the program” or “the node was inserted into the tree” are common. In linguistics, an epenthetic vowel may be inserted to ease pronunciation.

Notes: Inserted often functions as a distributive or attributive modifier, linking the action of inserting to a noun. Related terms include insert and insertion, as well as domain-specific uses such as epenthesis in phonology or embedding in data structures.