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
- A plant in the sedge family, native to the Nile...
Ancestry of “papyrus”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | papirus | papyrus |
| 2 | Latin | papȳrus | papyrus plant |
| 3 | French | -ine | feminine singular of -in; female equivalent of... |
| 4 | French | -é | past participle root verb suffix of regular -er... |
| 5 | Middle French | -é | past participle root verb suffix of regular; -ed, -en, -n |
| 6 | Old French | -é | used to form past participles of regular -er... |
| 7 | Latin | -a | suffixed to the roots of verbs, forms agent... |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | -ā | Forms masculine agent nouns from prefixed or compounded bases |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -éh₂ | — |