papyrus
a tall, aquatic plant, Cyperus papyrus, of the sedge family, native to the Nile valley: the Egyptian subspecies, C. papyrus hadidii, thought to be common in ancient times, now occurs only in several sites.
a material on which to write, prepared from thin strips of the pith of this plant laid together, soaked, pressed, and dried, used by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans.
an ancient document, manuscript, or scroll written on this material.
Origin of papyrus
1Other words from papyrus
- pa·py·ral, pa·pyr·i·an [puh-pir-ee-uhn], /pəˈpɪr i ən/, pa·py·rine [puh-pahy-rin], /pəˈpaɪ rɪn/, adjective
- pap·y·ri·tious [pap-uh-rish-uhs], /ˌpæp əˈrɪʃ əs/, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use papyrus in a sentence
Previously unknown papyri crop up only to vanish into private collections and out of the sight of scholars forever.
Dismembering History: The Shady Online Trade in Ancient Texts | Candida Moss | November 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIn the case of many auctions, however, the papyri are completely unprovenanced.
Dismembering History: The Shady Online Trade in Ancient Texts | Candida Moss | November 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTFor the past decade, scholars have been trawling the Internet looking for important papyri.
Dismembering History: The Shady Online Trade in Ancient Texts | Candida Moss | November 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBoth priceless papyri that could shed light on early Christianity and forgeries are openly trafficked online.
Dismembering History: The Shady Online Trade in Ancient Texts | Candida Moss | November 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTOur chief gains from papyri are the numerous and excellent fragments of the Catalogues which have been recovered.
Hesiod, The Homeric Hymns, and Homerica | Homer and Hesiod
Papyri in roll, flexible though fragile, in known Greek or Egyptian writing, are fairly safe.
How to Observe in Archaeology | VariousHere the papyri and ostraca have put a large material at our disposal, but the circumstances in Egypt3 4.
In 1920, among the Oxyrhynchus papyri was discovered a fragment of a Christian hymn.
Christian Hymns of the First Three Centuries | Ruth Ellis MessengerOn many papyri, and on the walls of tombs, scenes of the final judgment are frequently depicted.
Cleopatra's Needle | James King
British Dictionary definitions for papyrus
/ (pəˈpaɪrəs) /
a tall aquatic cyperaceous plant, Cyperus papyrus, of S Europe and N and central Africa with small green-stalked flowers arranged like umbrella spokes around the stem top
a kind of paper made from the stem pith of this plant, used by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans
an ancient document written on this paper
Origin of papyrus
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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