papyrus

[ puh-pahy-ruhs ]

noun

, plural pa·py·ri [p, uh, -, pahy, -rahy, -ree], pa·py·rus·es.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. an ancient document, manuscript, or scroll written on this material.

papyrus

/ pəˈpaɪrəs /

noun

1. 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
2. a kind of paper made from the stem pith of this plant, used by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans
3. an ancient document written on this paper

Other Words From

• pa·pyral pa·pyr·i·an [p, uh, -, pir, -ee-, uh, n], pa·py·rine [p, uh, -, pahy, -rin], adjective
• pap·y·ri·tious [pap-, uh, -, rish, -, uh, s], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of papyrus¹

1350–1400; Middle English papirus < Latin papȳrus < Greek pápȳros

Word History and Origins

Origin of papyrus¹

C14: via Latin from Greek papūros reed used in making paper

Example Sentences

It subsequently emerged that many other papyrus fragments in the 5000-piece collection were also missing.

From The Daily Beast

Among the artifacts discovered were pieces of a 15-foot-long papyrus that included texts of the Book of the Dead, a collection of spells written by priests to help the deceased pass through the underworld and into the afterlife.

From Washington Post

Inside a store room, Ahmed Tarek and Maysa Rabea are placing the jagged pieces of the papyrus together, like trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle.

From Washington Post

At least in the case of this latest von Scherling papyrus we have some idea where the text is from.

From The Daily Beast

This past week a new eBay auction announced the sale of “Ancient Egyptian papyrus with Greek letters—Bible.”

From The Daily Beast

Perfume bottles and weathered papyrus replicas gather dust in the grubby window displays of the empty shops.

From The Daily Beast

Unfortunately, the papyrus was too fragile to allow for carbon testing of the ink.

From The Daily Beast

Francis Watson argued that all of the fragmentary sentences preserved on the papyrus are also found in the Gospel of Thomas.

From The Daily Beast

The Egyptians also made ropes from papyrus and palm fibers, of which specimens still exist.

From Project Gutenberg

Twelve of these ropes were used, about nine inches thick, some of them being made of flax and others of papyrus.

From Project Gutenberg

When some dexterity had been acquired, the pupil was taught to use the reed pen and write with ink upon papyrus.

From Project Gutenberg

This is a most important papyrus for a knowledge of Ancient Egyptian philosophy.

From Project Gutenberg

The Ebers Papyrus shows us that the specialties were by no means scantily developed.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• card
• note
• pad
• poster
• sheet
• stationery