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
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.
In the past, some of the documents, which are made from a thick paper-like material called papyrus, were prised open but they crumbled into pieces.
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
Both were molded from cartonnage, created by soaking strips of linen or old papyrus scrolls in a paste and laying them over a woodblock form or the actual head of a mummy.
From New York Times • Feb. 12, 2024
“Only an old papyrus cutter I chanced upon in the reeds, with his donkey.”
From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
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.
