gedruckte

Gedruckte is the past participle of the German verb drucken (to print) and functions in practice as an adjective meaning “printed” or “produced by printing.” It is used to describe texts, publications, or media that have been created through a printing process, as opposed to handwritten or digital-only forms. Common contexts include bibliographic descriptions and library catalogs, for example gedruckte Ausgabe (printed edition), gedrucktes Buch (printed book), or gedruckte Zeitung (printed newspaper).

Grammatical use and declension: Gedruckte behaves as a standard attributive adjective in German. When used with a definite article, it takes weak endings, for instance: der gedruckte Text, die gedruckte Ausgabe, das gedruckte Buch. The endings change with case and number (e.g., des gedruckten Textes, dem gedruckten Text, die gedruckten Texte). Without a determiner, strong declension applies, as in gedruckter Text, gedruckte Ausgabe, gedrucktes Buch. With possessives or other determiners, mixed endings may occur.

Noun use and related terms: In some contexts, the phrase das Gedruckte may be used as a neuter noun meaning “the printed matter” or “the printed works” in a discourse about publishing or media. This usage is less common but established in literary or scholarly language. Gedruckte can also be contrasted with handschriftlich (handwritten) or digital/elektronisch (digital) when discussing formats, editions, or archives.

See also: drucken, Druck, Drucktechnik, Manuskript, digitale Kopie.