Where does “wallpaper” come from?
Wallpaper comes from English wall (from Proto-Indo-European wel-, meaning to turn or roll) and paper (from Latin papyrus, from Ancient Greek πάπυρος, the papyrus plant).
wallpaper (English): Decorative paper-like material used to cover the...
Definitions
- Decorative paper-like material used to cover the...
Ancestry of “wallpaper”, step by step
wallpaper traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English paper
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | paper | A sheet material used for writing on or printing... |
| 2 | Middle English | paper | paper; A text, message or note; something that is... |
| 3 | Old French | papier | to murmur |
| 4 | Old Catalan | paper | paper sheet material typically used for writing on or printing |
| 5 | Latin | papȳrus | papyrus plant |
| 6 | French | -ine | feminine singular of -in; female equivalent of... |
| 7 | French | -é | past participle root verb suffix of regular -er... |
| 8 | Middle French | -é | past participle root verb suffix of regular; -ed, -en, -n |
| 9 | Old French | -é | used to form past participles of regular -er... |
| 10 | Latin | -a | suffixed to the roots of verbs, forms agent... |
| 11 | Proto-Italic | -ā | Forms masculine agent nouns from prefixed or compounded bases |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | -éh₂ | — |
via English Wall
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Wall | The Berlin Wall |
| 2 | Middle English | wall | Alternative form of wale |
| 3 | Old English | weall | wall; fervour; uproar; boiled or mulled wine |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | wallaz | well, spring; wall, rampart, entrenchment |
| 5 | Latin | vallum | wall, rampart, entrenchment |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | wēl- | to see, perceive |