Meanings
nounpapyrus (usually uncountable, plural papyri or papyruses)
plural papyri · plural papyruses · alternative papyr
- uncountableusuallyA plant (Cyperus papyrus) in the sedge family, native to the Nile river valley, paper reed.
- uncountableusuallyA material similar to paper made from the papyrus plant.
Synonyms & antonyms
nountall sedge of the Nile valley yielding fiber that served many purposes in historic times
Similar
Egyptian paper reedEgyptian paper rushpaper rushpaper plantCyperus papyrus
Broader
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekπάπυρος
- Latinpapȳrus
- Middle Englishpapirus
- Englishpapyrus
From Middle English papirus, borrowed from Latin papȳrus, from Ancient Greek πάπυρος (pápuros), of unknown origin. Doublet of papyros.
More words from Middle English, Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek πάπυρος, πάπυρος
- πάπυρος (pápuros)plant in the sedge family
- πάπυρος (pápuros)material made from this plant
Arabic بَرْدِيّ, كُولَان
- بَرْدِيّ (bardiyy)plant in the sedge family
- كُولَان (kūlān)plant in the sedge family
- كَوْلَان (kawlān)plant in the sedge family
- بَرْدِيّ (bardiyy)material made from this plant
- بَرْدِيَّة (bardiyya)material made from this plant
- بَرْدِيَّة (bardiyya)scroll or document written on this material
Bengali প্যাপিরাস
- প্যাপিরাস (pêpiraś)material made from this plant
Bulgarian папи́рус, папи́рус
- папи́рус (papírus)plant in the sedge family
- папи́рус (papírus)material made from this plant
- папи́рус (papírus)scroll or document written on this material
Catalan papir, papir
- papirplant in the sedge family
- papirmaterial made from this plant
- papirscroll or document written on this material
Chinese Mandarin 紙草 /纸草, 紙莎草 /纸莎草
- 紙草 /纸草 (zhǐcǎo)plant in the sedge family
- 紙莎草 /纸莎草 (zhǐsuōcǎo)plant in the sedge family
- 莎草 (suōcǎo)plant in the sedge family
- 紙草紙 /纸草纸 (zhǐcǎo zhǐ)material made from this plant
- 莎草紙 /莎草纸 (suōcǎo zhǐ)material made from this plant
- 古代文獻 /古代文献 (gǔdài wénxiàn)scroll or document written on this material
Czech šáchor papírodárný, papyrus
- šáchor papírodárnýplant in the sedge family
- papyrusmaterial made from this plant
- papyrusscroll or document written on this material
Danish papyrus
- papyrusmaterial made from this plant
Dutch papyrus
- papyrusmaterial made from this plant
Esperanto papiruso, papiro
- papirusomaterial made from this plant
- papiromaterial made from this plant
Estonian papüürus
- papüürusmaterial made from this plant
Finnish papyruskaisla, papyrus
- papyruskaislaplant in the sedge family
- papyrusmaterial made from this plant
- papyrusscroll or document written on this material
French papyrus, papyrus
- papyrusplant in the sedge family
- papyrusmaterial made from this plant
- papyrusscroll or document written on this material
German Papyrus, Echter Papyrus
- Papyrusplant in the sedge family
- Echter Papyrusplant in the sedge family
- Papyrusstaudeplant in the sedge family
- Papyrusmaterial made from this plant
- Papyrusscroll or document written on this material
Greek πάπυρος, πάπυρος
- πάπυρος (pápyros)plant in the sedge family
- πάπυρος (pápyros)material made from this plant
Hebrew גומא \ גֹּמֶא, פָּפִּירוּס
- גומא \ גֹּמֶא (góme)plant in the sedge family
- פָּפִּירוּס (papírus)plant in the sedge family
- גומא פפירוס \ גֹּמֶא־פָּפִּירוּס (góme-papírus)plant in the sedge family
- פָּפִּירוּס (papírus)material made from this plant
- פָּפִּירוּס (papírus)scroll or document written on this material
Hindi पपाइरस
- पपाइरस (papāiras)material made from this plant
Hungarian papirusznád, papirusz
- papirusznádplant in the sedge family
- papiruszmaterial made from this plant
- papiruszscroll or document written on this material
Icelandic papýrus
- papýrusmaterial made from this plant
Indonesian bardi, papirus
- bardiplant in the sedge family
- papirusmaterial made from this plant
Italian papiro, papiro
- papiroplant in the sedge family
- papiromaterial made from this plant
- papiroscroll or document written on this material
Japanese パピルス, カミガヤツリ
- パピルス (papirusu)plant in the sedge family
- カミガヤツリ (kamigayatsuri)plant in the sedge family
- パピルス (papirusu)material made from this plant
Korean 파피루스, 파피루스
- 파피루스 (papiruseu)plant in the sedge family
- 파피루스 (papiruseu)material made from this plant
Latin papȳrus, charta
- papȳrusplant in the sedge family
- chartaplant in the sedge family
- papȳrusmaterial made from this plant
- chartamaterial made from this plant
- chartaceusmaterial made from this plant
- chartariusmaterial made from this plant
- papȳrusscroll or document written on this material
- chartascroll or document written on this material
- chartaceusscroll or document written on this material
- chartariusscroll or document written on this material
Latvian papiruss
- papirussmaterial made from this plant
Lithuanian papirusas
- papirusasmaterial made from this plant
Malay papirus
- papirusmaterial made from this plant
Norwegian Bokmål papyrus
- papyrusmaterial made from this plant
Persian پاپیروس, پاپیروس
- پاپیروس (pâpirus)plant in the sedge family
- پاپیروس (pâpirus)material made from this plant
Polish papirus, papirus
- papirusplant in the sedge family
- papirusmaterial made from this plant
- papirusscroll or document written on this material
Portuguese papiro, papiro
- papiroplant in the sedge family
- papiromaterial made from this plant
- papiroscroll or document written on this material
Romanian papirus
- papirusmaterial made from this plant
Russian папи́рус, папи́рус
- папи́рус (papírus)plant in the sedge family
- папи́рус (papírus)material made from this plant
- папи́рус (papírus)scroll or document written on this material
Slovak papyrus
- papyrusmaterial made from this plant
Spanish papiro, papiro
- papiroplant in the sedge family
- papiromaterial made from this plant
- papiroscroll or document written on this material
Swedish papyrus, papyrus
- papyrusplant in the sedge family
- papyrusmaterial made from this plant
- papyrusscroll or document written on this material
Tagalog papiro, papiro
- papiroplant in the sedge family
- papiromaterial made from this plant
- papiroscroll or document written on this material
Thai พาไพรัส
- พาไพรัสmaterial made from this plant
Turkish papirüs, papirüs
- papirüsplant in the sedge family
- papirüsmaterial made from this plant
- papirüsscroll or document written on this material
Ukrainian папі́рус, папі́рус
- папі́рус (papírus)plant in the sedge family
- папі́рус (papírus)material made from this plant
- папі́рус (papírus)scroll or document written on this material
Urdu پپیرس
- پپیرس (papāiras)material made from this plant
Vietnamese cói, giấy cói
- cóiplant in the sedge family
- giấy cóimaterial made from this plant
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with papyrus
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
papyrus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/papyrus
MLA
“papyrus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/papyrus. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “papyrus,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/papyrus.
Source: papyrus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.