papyrus

Pronunciation: /pəˈpaɪɹəs/

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun paper made from the papyrus plant by cutting it in strips and pressing it flat; used by ancient Egyptians and Greeks and Romans
  2. noun tall sedge of the Nile valley yielding fiber that served many purposes in historic times
  3. noun a document written on papyrus

Etymology

From Middle English papirus, borrowed from Latin papȳrus, from Ancient Greek πάπυρος (pápuros), of unknown origin. Doublet of papyros.

In classic literature

Semantic network

Broader (hypernyms)
paper

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