verschwunden

Verschwunden is the past participle of the German verb verschwinden, meaning to disappear or to go missing. It describes something or someone that is no longer present and has not been found.

In German grammar, verschwunden is used with the auxiliary sein to form perfect tenses: Er ist verschwunden. It can also function as an adjective or as part of a participial phrase: verschwundene Spuren, verschwundenes Gepäck. When used attributively, the participle follows standard adjective declension rules and agrees with the noun in gender, number, and case.

Etymology: The prefix ver- is inseparable here and adds a sense of change of state; schwinden means to dwindle or fade away. The word appears in Middle High German and Old High German with related forms, reflecting its long-standing semantic field of becoming unseen or lost.

Usage notes: The term conveys that something has not been located or remains missing, often with a sense of uncertainty about the outcome. It is common in news reporting, police bulletins, and fiction. A frequent collocation is spurlos verschwunden (disappeared without a trace).

Verschwunden can also be used as a noun in the abstract form das Verschwinden, referring to the act of disappearing. The concept contrasts with verschwinden as a process and with the noun form that names the event itself.

---