papyrus

Where does the word "papyrus" come from? It comes from Egyptian papuro, passing through Ancient Greek and Latin before entering English (1300s).

Papyrus’s story begins in Egyptian: papuro meant “the paper reed plant, 'that of the pharaoh'.” Papyrus production along the Nile was controlled by the royal government. By ancient, the word had taken hold in Ancient Greek as papyros. Greek traders and scholars adopted the Egyptian term for the writing material. From there it passed into Latin as papyrus by ancient. Carried into Latin scholarly and administrative texts. It reached English by 1300s as papyrus. Entered English via Latin to describe the ancient writing material. Today, papyrus means a paper-like writing material made from the pith of the papyrus plant, used in ancient Egypt; also the plant itself.

1. Stage 1 · Egyptian · ancient papuro "the paper reed plant, 'that of the pharaoh'", papyrus production along the Nile was controlled by the royal government.
2. Stage 2 · Ancient Greek · ancient papyros "the paper-reed plant and material made from it", Greek traders and scholars adopted the Egyptian term for the writing material.
3. Stage 3 · Latin · ancient papyrus "paper made from the papyrus plant", carried into Latin scholarly and administrative texts.
4. Stage 4 · English · 1300s papyrus "a paper-like writing material made from the papyrus plant", entered English via Latin to describe the ancient writing material.