German · Travel & Places
Map / Card
A diagram of an area; also a card.
Ich brauche eine Karte der Stadt.
I need a map of the city.
'Karte' comes from the Middle Latin 'charta', meaning 'paper'. Over time in German, it has come to refer specifically to maps and cards.
'Karte' is used in both formal and informal settings to refer to maps, greeting cards, and various forms of identification and documentation.
The term appears in various literary works that reference exploration, geography, or communication.