papyrus
Americannoun
-
papyri,
plural
-
papyruses
plural
-
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.
-
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.
-
an ancient document, manuscript, or scroll written on this material.
noun
-
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
-
a kind of paper made from the stem pith of this plant, used by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans
-
an ancient document written on this paper
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Ancient Egypt - Middle School and High School
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Ancient Egypt and Kush, Lessons 1–3
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
Archaeologists working at the ancient Egyptian site of Oxyrhynchus have made a remarkable discovery: a papyrus containing a passage from Homer's Iliad was found inside a Roman-era mummy dating back about 1,600 years.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
The scan is used to create a 3D reconstruction, then the layers inside the scroll - it contains about 10m of papyrus - have to be identified.
From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2025
Wheat-based glues have a long history in bookbinding that originates in ancient Egyptian texts, which experts have partially attributed to the longevity of the world's collection of papyrus documents.
From Salon ● May 7, 2024
The Sumerians of Mesopotamia devised a love song by around 2000 BCE, and scholars of Ancient Egypt have found love songs inscribed into pottery and written on sheets of papyrus.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 19, 2024
Numbly he walked down familiar streets, past the papyrus marsh, past the beginning of the wharves.
From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
Located about 190 kilometers south of Cairo near the Bahr Yussef branch of the Nile, the site has long been known for preserving thousands of ancient papyri.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
And more papyri could still be found on lower floors of the villa, which have yet to be excavated.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 17, 2023
“Ithaca’s architecture makes it really applicable to any ancient language, not just Latin, but Mayan, cuneiform; really any written medium — papyri, manuscripts,” she said.
From The Verge ● Mar. 9, 2022
In another prominent case, the Greens bought about 150 papyrus fragments in 2010–13 from Dirk Obbink, a professor who most probably stole them from the collection of papyri he oversaw at Oxford University.
From Slate ● Oct. 4, 2021
Out of 125 papyri recording contemporary legal cases, fully 20 percent involve personal squabbles between individual Greeks and Egyptians.
From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro
Historically, biblical writings, Egyptian papyruses and the medical texts of the classical Greeks show that infertility was a common condition and that women were primarily blamed.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 22, 2018
Now, however, German papyrologist Carsten Peter Thiede has startled the rarefied world of biblical scholarship by arguing that the papyruses are actually the oldest extant fragments of the New Testament, dating from about A.D.
From Time Magazine Archive
Inscriptions, papyruses, books time-bind the human species and permit us to hear those few voices and faint cries of our brothers and sisters, our ancestors.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
After Hiram’s departure the heir shut himself up in the most remote chamber under pretext of reading sacred papyruses.
From The Pharaoh and the Priest An Historical Novel of Ancient Egypt by Alexander Glovatski
No references to the early Assyrians and the Greeks until the papyruses were replaced.
From Interpreters by Carl Van Vechten
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.
