unterschriebt

Unterschriebt is a nonstandard spelling that has appeared in some German texts. It is not part of modern standard German vocabulary and is not listed in major dictionaries. Most linguists treat it as a misspelling or as a historical variant that is no longer current. The standard verb is unterschreiben (to sign) or unterzeichnen; its past participle is unterschrieben and its simple past form is unterschrieb. The form “unterschriebt” does not have a recognized independent meaning in contemporary usage.

Possible explanations for its appearance include typographical errors, OCR misreads when digitizing old documents, or influence from regional or historical orthography where spellings differed from today’s norms. In practice, if “unterschriebt” is encountered, editors typically replace it with the correct form according to tense and voice: unterschrieb (he/she signed) or unterschrieben (having signed), or the infinitive unterschreiben/unterzeichnen.

Relationship to related terms: “unterschreiben” (to sign) and “unterzeichnen” (to sign underneath) are the standard verbs; “Signatur” refers to the signature itself. The confusion between unterzeichnen and unterschreiben is common in everyday usage, but the spelling “unterschriebt” remains nonstandard and is not recognized as a correct form in modern German.

See also: Unterschreiben, Unterzeichnen, Signatur, Rechtschreibung, Orthografie.