Eigentum

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German

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle High German eigentuom. Equivalent to eigen (“own”) +‎ -tum (“-dom”), compare Dutch eigendom.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈaɪɡəntuːm/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: Ei‧gen‧tum

Noun

Eigentum n (strong, genitive Eigentumes or Eigentums, plural Eigentümer or Eigentume)

  1. (uncountable, law) ownership
    Hypernyms: Herrschaftsrecht, absolutes Recht, dingliches Recht
  2. (countable, archaic) an item of owned property, e.g. estate, belonging, etc.

Usage notes

Common translations of the word's second sense is ‘property’; however, the technical usage is narrower and does not allow for it to be used with the same objects as these terms are in English.

Outside of legal usage other areas (e.g. business administration) may use the term Eigentum for things that German law does not regard as ownership. So terms like geistiges Eigentum (“intellectual property”), not referring to corporeal objects, are strictly translationese and a misnomer and do not occur in the internal legal systems of the German-speaking countries, except as a comparative law and international law catchword. While an economic work might refer to a Markeneigentümer (“brand owner”), legal works would refer to a Markeninhaber (“brand owner”), as Inhaberschaft denotes any legal position as English ownership does.

In either cases however, the corresponding verbs eignen and innehaben are not in common use anymore but stilted; the former, for the technical sense of owning a corporeal object, is suppleted by gehören.

Declension

Declension of Eigentum
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative ein das Eigentum die Eigentümer, Eigentume
genitive eines des Eigentumes, Eigentums der Eigentümer, Eigentume
dative einem dem Eigentum, Eigentume1 den Eigentümern, Eigentumen
accusative ein das Eigentum die Eigentümer, Eigentume

1Now rare, see notes.

Derived terms

Further reading

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