Pappen

Pappen is a term that appears primarily in the German language with multiple related meanings. As a verb, pappen commonly means to stick, paste, affix or smear something with an adhesive substance. It is used in everyday speech to describe attaching items with glue, sealing packages, or covering surfaces with a paste or coating.

As a plural noun, Pappen is the plural of Pappe, meaning cardboard or heavy paperboard. In this sense, pappen refers to sheets or pieces of cardboard used in packaging, model-making, bookbinding, and various industrial applications. Cardboard Pappen are valued for low cost, light weight and ease of recycling, and they play a central role in shipping and protective packaging.

The word also occurs in colloquial and regional expressions within German, where it can take on figurative meanings related to sticking or being stuck, or to describe something done clumsily. It appears in compound nouns and idioms tied to everyday handiwork and craft. Outside German, Pappen may appear as a surname in some families; in such cases it functions purely as a proper name without connection to the material or verb meanings.

Because the term spans grammar and material culture, its precise sense depends on context—grammatical usage, reference to cardboard objects, or idiomatic speech.