Papyrus

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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) 2.0 [wn]:

  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: {Egyptian paper reed},
           {Egyptian paper rush}, {paper rush}, {paper plant}, {Cyperus
          papyrus}]
       3: a document written on papyrus
       [also: {papyri} (pl)]