Etymology

papier-mâché

Today it means: A composite material created by pulping paper or layering paper strips with an adhesive such as glue, starch or paste, which dries to form a durable, lightweight and moldable substance. Full definition →

French papier mâché
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The story

  1. French · borrowed frompapier mâché
  2. English todaypapier-mâché

Unadapted borrowing from French papier mâché (literally “chewed-up paper”). See French papier and mâcher, respectively related to the English words paper and masticate.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.