In Hebrew: ‘Wrapping paper’

A good Hebrew term to know as the end of fall approaches is that for wrapping paper: נְיַר עֲטִיפָה.

נייר – paper – first appears in the Hebrew language in Mishnaic literature, while עטיפה – wrapping – comes from the Biblical-Hebrew verb to wrap -לַעֲטוֹף .

For example: אֲבַקֵּשׁ לַעֲטוֹף אֶת הַמַּתָּנָה בְּנְיַר עֲטִיפָה. May I have the gift wrapped in wrapping paper? (literally, I shall ask to wrap the gift in wrapping paper.)

Truth is, in Biblical Hebrew, לעטוף also means to faint or to grow weak. More on that in tomorrow’s dose.

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