papyrus
Americannoun
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a tall, aquatic plant, Cyperus papyrus, of the sedge family, native to the Nile valley: the Egyptian subspecies, C. papyrus hadidii, thought to be common in ancient times, now occurs only in several sites.
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a material on which to write, prepared from thin strips of the pith of this plant laid together, soaked, pressed, and dried, used by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans.
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an ancient document, manuscript, or scroll written on this material.
noun
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a tall aquatic cyperaceous plant, Cyperus papyrus, of S Europe and N and central Africa with small green-stalked flowers arranged like umbrella spokes around the stem top
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a kind of paper made from the stem pith of this plant, used by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans
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an ancient document written on this paper
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of papyrus
1350–1400; Middle English papirus < Latin papȳrus < Greek pápȳros
Explanation
The word "paper" comes from papyrus, which is "the paper plant, or paper made from it." When the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans wanted to jot something down, they used papyrus. Papyrus plants used to grow all over the Nile Delta in Egypt, which is why it was so popular with the King Tut set. They used it to make everything from mattresses to sandals, but papyrus is mostly famous as the thick paper ancient Egyptians wrote important documents on, like, say, a note from Cleopatra. It also refers to the paper itself, like the recently discovered papyrus of Cleopatra, on which she wrote "make it happen." Yes ma'am.
Vocabulary lists containing papyrus
Ancient Egypt - Introductory
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Ancient Egypt - Middle School and High School
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Ancient Egypt and Kush, Lessons 1–3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The poppy plant is also referenced in several ancient texts, including the Ebers Papyrus, Hippocrates, Dioscorides's De Materia Medica, and Galen.
From Science Daily • Dec. 18, 2025
In my twenties I became one of them, too — a nanny in Palisades, a parking lot cashier in Santa Monica and Westwood, a sales associate at Papyrus.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 23, 2025
First, he consulted the Ebers Papyrus, an Egyptian text of medical recipes from 1500 B.C.
From New York Times • Jun. 20, 2024
The Berlin Papyrus 6619, usually dated between 1800 BCE and 1649 BCE, contains a solution to a problem involving the Pythagorean theorem and evidence that the Egyptians could solve quadratic equations.
From Textbooks • Jun. 15, 2022
Delia Defoe, his editor at Papyrus Publishing, claims that she has never met him—or even spoken to him on the phone!
From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
