standgehalten

Standgehalten is the past participle of the German verb standhalten, meaning to withstand or to hold out. It is used to describe something that has endured a test, stress, or load. In standard usage, standgehalten can appear in two main forms: as part of a perfect tense with the auxiliary haben (for example, Die Brücke hat dem Sturm standgehalten) and as an attributive adjective before a noun (for example, das standgehaltene Bauwerk, die standgehaltene Brücke). The suffixes of the attributive form follow normal German adjective declension.

Etymology and formation: standhalten is a compound verb combining stand (to stand) and halten (to hold). The past participle is standgehalten, with ge- and the stem formed from the root verb. It is typically used in contexts where resilience or durability is evaluated, such as engineering, construction, safety testing, and scientific reporting.

Usage and nuance: The term emphasizes that an object or system successfully resisted external forces or conditions. It is more common in technical or formal language and can appear in both singular and plural contexts. While standhalten broadly means to withstand, standgehalten specifically marks the state of having withstood something.

Examples: Die Brücke hat dem Starkregen standgehalten. Der Pfeiler hat standgehalten. Dieses Material hat alle Belastungen standgehalten. The form can also serve attributively: das standgehaltene Material, die standgehaltene Struktur.

See also: standfestigkeit, standfest, widerstehen, durchhalten, durchhaltevermögen.