Übertragen

Übertragen is a German verb with several related meanings. It derives from über- meaning over or across, and tragen meaning to carry, and conveys the idea of moving or handing something from one place to another, or passing it on. In German, it is a separable verb: in the present tense the prefix is often separated, as in Ich übertrage die Daten. The past participle is übertragen, and the perfect requires haben: Ich habe die Daten übertragen. The core sense is the act of conveying, passing on, or transmitting.

In technical and communicative contexts, übertragen describes the transfer or transmission of information or materials. Examples include Daten übertragen (transferring data), Dateien übertragen (transferring files), and eine Verbindung übertragen (to establish or extend a connection). In media, it also means to broadcast or air content: eine Sendung übertragen, live übertragen.

In legal and property contexts, übertragen refers to transferring rights or ownership from one party to another. This can involve Eigentum übertragen (to transfer ownership), Recht übertragen (to assign rights), or Vertragsübertragung (transfer of a contract). The term appears in many formal and administrative formulations.

Biology and medicine use übertragen to describe transmission or contagion, such as die Übertragung eines Virus (the transmission of a virus) or die Übertragung von Merkmalen. In mathematics or logic, the phrase etwas auf eine andere Menge übertragen means to transfer a function or structure to another set or context.

As a noun, Übertragung denotes the process of transferring or transmitting, with common compounds including Datenübertragung and Live-Übertragung. The word is widely used across domains to denote conveyance, transmission, or assignment of something from one entity to another.