papyrus

IPA/pəˈpaɪrəs/
IPA/pəˈpaɪrəs/

papyrus — noun

  • papyrussingular
  • papyriplural

1. a tall water plant with a triangular stem and feathery green tops, found mainly

1.nounC1
Definition

a tall water plant with a triangular stem and feathery green tops, found mainly along rivers and marshes in North Africa, especially the Nile.

Example

Thick clumps of papyrus grew along the muddy edge of the Nile.

uncountable: clumps of papyrus

The botanist Dr. Mensah pointed to a stand of papyrus swaying in the breeze.

Common collocations
  • clumps of papyrus
  • stands of papyrus
  • papyrus stems
  • papyrus grows
  • papyrus reeds
Synonyms
  • sedge

    broader botanical category that papyrus belongs to

  • reed

    everyday word for tall water grasses; less precise

  • bulrush

    another tall waterside plant; sometimes used loosely for papyrus in older translations

Usage Note

Subject is usually the plant itself or a place where it grows; rarely takes an article in this sense (compare sense 2, where 'a papyrus' refers to a document).

Common Mistakes

I bought a papyrus at the garden centre' (when meaning the plant in general).
I bought a papyrus plant at the garden centre.
say 'papyrus plant' to make clear you mean the living reed.

2. an early form of paper made by pressing thin strips taken from the stem of a tal

2.nounC1
Definition

an early form of paper made by pressing thin strips taken from the stem of a tall water reed into flat sheets, used in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome; also a single document or scroll written on such sheets.

Example

Egyptian scribes wrote royal letters on papyrus using reed pens and black ink.

uncountable: write on papyrus

The museum displays a 3,000-year-old papyrus covered in tiny hieroglyphs.

countable: a papyrus = a document

Common collocations
  • ancient papyrus
  • fragment of papyrus
  • papyrus scroll
  • write on papyrus
  • decipher a papyrus
Synonyms
  • scroll

    any rolled document; papyrus is one common material for ancient scrolls

  • manuscript

    any handwritten document; broader and not tied to material

  • parchment

    competing ancient writing material made from animal skin, not plant fibre

Usage Note

Plural is usually 'papyri' in academic writing, though 'papyruses' is also accepted. Distinguish from sense 1: a 'papyrus' (with 'a' or in the plural) almost always means a written document, not the living plant.

Common Mistakes

The scholar found three papyrus in the tomb.
The scholar found three papyri in the tomb.
countable plural is 'papyri', not bare 'papyrus'.

Word family

  • papyri
    noun (plural)C1
  • papyrologist
    nounC2
  • papyrology
    nounC2
  • paper
    nounA1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/2

These words all relate to writing materials and old documents, but they differ in material and scope. 'Papyrus' specifically means paper made from the papyrus plant, used mostly in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. 'Parchment' is made from prepared animal skin, common in medieval Europe after papyrus became hard to obtain. 'Vellum' is a finer, smoother kind of parchment, traditionally from calf skin. 'Scroll' describes the rolled shape of a document, regardless of material — a scroll can be papyrus or parchment. 'Manuscript' is the broadest term: any handwritten document, on any material, from any period. So a researcher might say, 'This Roman-era papyrus was later copied onto medieval parchment, and the resulting scroll is now studied as an important manuscript.'

papyrus ↗parchment ↗vellum ↗scroll ↗manuscript ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • papyrus plant
  • papyrus scroll
  • papyrus fragment
  • papyrus reed
  • papyrus stem

Phrases

  • written on papyrus
  • fragment of papyrus
  • ancient Egyptian papyrus
  • roll of papyrus

Prepositions

  • on papyrus
  • of papyrus

Etymology

EgyptianGreekLatinOld French / English

English borrowed 'papyrus' in the late 14th century from Latin 'papyrus', which came from Greek 'papyros'. The Greek word is itself thought to come from an older Egyptian source, though the exact form is uncertain. The same root gave English the word 'paper', through Old French 'papier' — paper got its name from the plant material that came before it, even though modern paper is made from wood pulp instead.