utövde

Utøvde is the simple past tense form of the Norwegian verb utøve, meaning to exercise, exert, perform, or carry out. It is used to describe actions that someone or some entity carried out in the past and is standard in both Bokmål and Nynorsk varieties.

In Norwegian usage, utøve covers a range of senses from exercising a skill or duty to applying authority or influence. It can refer to concrete tasks as well as abstract rights or powers. Examples include exercising a right, exerting control, or carrying out assignments. For instance, one might say, "Han utøvde sin rett til å delta i møtet," meaning he exercised his right to participate, or "Organisasjonen utøvde kontroll over prosjektet," meaning the organization exercised control over the project.

Grammatically, utøve has present, past, and participle forms: present utøver, past utøvde, and past participle utøvd. The passive-like participle utøvd also appears in phrases such as "utøvd kontroll" or "utøvd myndighet," used attributively to describe actions that have been exercised. Examples: "Kontrollen ble utøvd" (The control was exercised). The verb thus supports actions performed by a subject on objects, powers, duties, or responsibilities.

Etymology and cognates: utøve is part of a Nordic set of verbs with related forms in neighboring languages. Danish has udøva or udøve with past udøvede, and Swedish uses utöva with past utövde. These cognates reflect common Germanic roots and similar meanings across Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish.

In translation, utøvde generally aligns with “exercised,” “carried out,” or “performed” in English, depending on context. It emphasizes the act of putting a right, duty, power, or task into effect in the past.