verbreitetsten

Verbreitetsten is the superlative form of the German adjective verbreitet, meaning most widespread or most commonly distributed. It is used to indicate that something has the highest degree of spread or prevalence within a group or category. The form is typically employed when referring to plural nouns and with definite articles, as in die verbreitetsten Methoden or zu den verbreitetsten Regionen. In other contexts, the comparative am weitesten verbreitet or related phrases can be used to express a similar idea.

Formation and usage notes: The superlative ending -sten marks the highest degree in the plural after a definite article. In singular forms, the corresponding endings follow standard attributive adjective declension, for example der verbreitetste Fall, die verbreitetste Methode, das verbreitetste Beispiel. The exact inflection depends on gender, number, and case, as with other German adjectives. In many stylistic contexts, especially in scientific or journalistic writing, the phrase am weitesten verbreitet is used instead of a attributive form to emphasize relative prevalence.

Common contexts: Verbreitetsten is frequently found in discussions of language distribution, cultural practices, epidemiology, geography, and social science when sorting items by prevalence. It can describe the most common variants, theories, diseases, technologies, or traditions within a defined set.

Examples:

- Die verbreitetsten Sprachen der Welt sind Mandarin, Englisch und Spanisch.

- Zu den verbreitetsten Mythen gehört die Annahme, dass mehr Menschen links- als rechtshemden tragen.

- In der Region gehören die verbreitetsten Krankheiten Herz-Kreislauf-Erkrankungen und Atemwegserkrankungen.

Etymology: The word derives from verbreiten (to spread) with the standard German superlative suffix -sten, yielding a form that denotes the utmost degree of spread among the items under consideration.