Papier

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A thin material made from cellulose fibers, used for writing or printing
2. A product created through a process of pulping, primarily utilized in packaging and crafts
3. A versatile substance often employed in arts, education, and various commercial applications

Etymology: Paper's name is older than the material it names, and the thing it first described was not made from wood pulp at all. The English word comes from Old French "papier", from Latin "papyrus", which in turn came from Greek "papyros", the name of the reed whose pith the Egyptians pressed into sheets for writing. Egypt, not China, supplied the word that English and most European languages inherited for writing surfaces. The substance itself changed while the name stayed. Papyrus sheets were made from a plant that grew along the Nile, and the same name was then carried over to the new material that replaced it. Paper made from cloth rags and later from wood fibre spread through Europe over the following centuries, and the word followed it, so a modern sheet of paper shares its name with a reed that never went near a pulp mill.

Synonyms: paper