übertragend

Übertragend is a German adjective formed from the verb übertragen, meaning to transfer or to transmit. The term describes something that transmits or conveys a substance, influence, or information to another entity. In medical and public-health contexts, ü bertragend typically refers to a person, organism, or agent that can pass an infection to others, or to an infection that can be transmitted. It is related to, but not identical with, übertragbar (transmissible) and infektiös (infectious). For example, one might speak of an asymptomatisch übertragende Person who can spread a disease despite lacking symptoms, or of a übertragender Erreger that propagates via a vector.

Beyond medicine, übertragend can describe processes that transfer energy, information, or properties. In these contexts it is less common than phrases like Übertragung (transmission) or übertragbar, but it is used to characterize agents or mechanisms that actively transmit something to another system or individual. The term is typically employed where the emphasis is on the act of transmission itself, rather than merely on the capacity to be transmitted.

Etymology and usage notes: über- conveys crossing or across, and tragen means to carry. The participle ending -end yields an attributive adjective meaning “transmitting” or “transmitting one.” In everyday German, übertragbar is often preferred for general transmissibility, while übertragend stresses the active transfer in a specific context.