rückgeholt

Rückgeholt is the past participle form of the German verb rückholen, meaning to fetch back, retrieve, or reclaim something that had been taken away. The typical written form in standard German is zurückgeholt; rückgeholt is usually considered a colloquial or regional variant or a common misspelling in informal contexts. The term derives from the prefix rück- meaning “back” and the verb holen “to fetch.” Rückholen is a separable-prefix verb; in present tense you say ich hole ihn zurück, and in the perfect tense you say ich habe ihn zurückgeholt.

Usage and scope: Rückgeholt describes the act of recovering a person, object, or abstraction that had been removed or lost, such as a physical item, information, or a status. It is applicable across domains including everyday life, business, law, and media. In formal writing, zurückgeholt is the preferred form, while rückgeholt may appear in casual speech or as a typographical variant.

Examples: Der Schlüssel wurde zurückgeholt. Die Daten wurden aus dem Archiv zurückgeholt. Nach dem Konflikt wurden die Vermissten schließlich zurückgeholt. In journalism and documentation, the precise verb form zurückgeholt is typically used for clarity and correctness.

Morphology: As a separable-prefix verb, zurückholen splits in present usage, but its past participle forms a single unit: zurückgeholt. The prefix conveys the idea of returning to a previous place or state, reinforcing the notion of retrieval or reclaiming.

See also: zurückholen, Rückführung, Rückholung.