Etymograph

English

papyrus

Papyrus comes from Latin papȳrus ‘papyrus (plant)’, and goes back to Ancient Greek πάπυρος.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπάπυρος1pápuros‘the plant papyrus’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpapȳrus1‘papyrus (plant)’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500papirus1‘papyrus (plant)’
  4. Englishtodaypapyrus1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English papyrus

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπάπυροςWiktionary, English papyruspápuros‘the plant papyrus’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpapȳrusWiktionary, English papyrus‘papyrus (plant)’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500papirusWiktionary, English papyrus‘papyrus (plant)’
  4. EnglishtodaypapyrusWiktionary, English papyrus

The story

From Middle English papirus, borrowed from Latin papȳrus, from Ancient Greek πάπυρος (pápuros), of unknown origin.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Latin papȳrus ‘papyrus (plant)’

paper, 5 more

Today it means

noun A plant (Cyperus papyrus) in the sedge family, native to the Nile river valley, paper reed.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “papyrus”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Ancient Greek πάπυρος / papyrus

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