Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “papyrus” come from?

Papyrus comes from Middle English papirus, from Latin papyrus, from Ancient Greek πάπυρος, a plant used to make writing material.

papyrus (English): A plant in the sedge family, native to the Nile...

Definitions

  1. A plant in the sedge family, native to the Nile...

Ancestry of “papyrus”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishpapiruspapyrus
2Latinpapȳrus—
3French-inefeminine singular of -in; female equivalent of...
4French-épast participle root verb suffix of regular -er...
5Middle French-é—
6Old French-éused to form past participles of regular -er...
7Latin-asuffixed to the roots of verbs, forms agent...
8Proto-Italic-ā—
9Proto-Indo-European-éh₂—

Words derived from “papyrus”

  • papyri
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -éh₂ →