parchment

American  

[pahrch-muhnt] / ˈpɑrtʃ mənt /

noun

1. the skin of sheep, goats, etc., prepared for use as a material on which to write.

2. a manuscript or document on such material.

3. a stiff, off-white paper resembling this material.

4. a diploma.

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parchment British  

/ ˈpɑːtʃmənt /

noun

1. the skin of certain animals, such as sheep, treated to form a durable material, as for bookbinding, or (esp formerly) manuscripts

2. a manuscript, bookbinding, etc, made of or resembling this material

3. a type of stiff yellowish paper resembling parchment

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Other Word Forms

• parchmentlike
  adjective
• parchmenty
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of parchment

1275–1325; late Middle English < Middle French, Old French ( parche < Latin Parthica ( pellis ) Parthian (leather) + -ment (compare Medieval Latin percamentum, Dutch perkament )); replacing Middle English parchemin < Old French ( -min < Medieval Latin pergamīnum, variant of pergamēnum, for Late Latin Pergamēna charta paper of Pergamum )

Explanation

Parchment is what people used to write on before paper was common, hundreds of years ago. Instead of being made from trees, parchment was made from animal skins. As early as the second century BCE, ancient Greeks invented a method of treating animal skins to make a writing surface, parchment, that was less expensive than the papyrus they used before that. Parchment continued to be used through the 1400s, when Europeans began making paper. These days, you're most likely to see parchment in a museum or historical movie. The word comes from the name of the city where it was invented, Pergamon.

Example Sentences

The artifacts — yellowing parchment with slight marks of stress at the edges and an intricately detailed stone tablet — are almost luminous under dim overhead lights at the exhibit.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2026

Keyes added: "Reconstructing the hide soaking tank will shed light on the finer details of this process and the parchment samples produced can be compared directly with original manuscripts."

From BBC • Mar. 25, 2026

"If implemented at scale, it could represent a milestone in the history of knowledge storage, akin to oracle bones, medieval parchment or the modern hard drive," they said.

From Barron's • Feb. 18, 2026

Even into my adulthood he suggested I display it in my office alongside my Phi Beta Kappa parchment so that visitors could assess my character as well as my academic achievements.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 4, 2026

He handed back a crumpled scrap of parchment, slowing down only slightly so Magdalys could grab it.

From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older