søkt

Søkt is the past participle of the Norwegian verb søke, meaning to search, seek, or apply for. It is used with auxiliary verbs to form perfect tenses, as in han har søkt, de har søkt etter jobb. The form is the same in Bokmål and Nynorsk.

The verb søke covers multiple senses: to search for something physically, to seek information, and to apply for a position, grant, or permit. The phrase å søke om X means to apply for X (for example, å søke om stipend, å søke om visum). The simple past tense is søkte (han søkte etter nøklene), while the past participle used in perfect tenses is søkt.

Etymology: søke derives from Old Norse sœkja and is cognate with related Germanic verbs such as the English seek. The form søkt has been stable in Norwegian since the Middle Ages.

Usage notes: Søkt is not used as a standalone adjective; as a participle it primarily appears in compound tenses. In modern Norwegian, many speakers use the verb form å søke in present perfect phrases; the participle søkt remains common in written and formal contexts.

See also: søke.