papyrus

Word family

pa·py·rus /pəˈpaɪrəs/ noun (plural papyruses or papyri /-raɪ/)

1. [uncountableU]HBP a plant like grass that grows in water 紙莎草

2. [countableC, uncountableU]SHTC a type of paper made from papyrus and used in ancient Egypt, or a piece of this paper 〔古埃及用的〕紙莎草紙

Examples from the Corpus

papyrus• He remembered the floggings which, when he was a student, had followed the botching of a papyrus.• Speech became eternal, thanks to certain marks on stone and clay and papyrus.• It was hurriedly written on a scrap of papyrus which had been used and scraped clean several times before.• Waterfowl and stylized papyrus flowers recur, as do simplified outlines of chariots.• The contents of the papyrus are a commentary on the mythical poetry of Orpheus.• Thus, we see a two-fold dimension within the view of the papyrus.• We could see the moon over the papyrus swamps.

Origin papyrus

(1300-1400) Latin Greek papyros

Syllable

Corpus

BNC: 26007 COCA: 23504

papyrus