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papyrus

2 definitions found for papyrus

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :


  Papyrus \Pa*py"rus\, n.; pl. Papyri. [L., fr. Gr. pa`pyros.
     See Paper.]
     1. (Bot.) A tall rushlike plant ({Cyperus Papyrus) of the
        Sedge family, formerly growing in Egypt, and now found in
        Abyssinia, Syria, Sicily, etc. The stem is triangular and
        about an inch thick.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. The material upon which the ancient Egyptians wrote. It
        was formed by cutting the stem of the plant into thin
        longitudinal slices, which were gummed together and
        pressed.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. A manuscript written on papyrus; esp., pl., written
        scrolls made of papyrus; as, the papyri of Egypt or
        Herculaneum.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) :


  papyrus
      n 1: paper made from the papyrus plant by cutting it in strips
           and pressing it flat; used by ancient Egyptians and Greeks
           and Romans
      2: tall sedge of the Nile valley yielding fiber that served many
         purposes in historic times [syn: papyrus, Egyptian paper
         reed, Egyptian paper rush, paper rush, paper plant,
         Cyperus papyrus]
      3: a document written on papyrus