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Webster 1913 Edition

Papyrus

Pa-py′rus

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Papyri
(#)
.
[L., fr. Gr.
πάπυρος
. 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.
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.
3.
A manuscript written on papyrus; esp.,
pl.
, written scrolls made of papyrus;
as, the
papyri
of Egypt or Herculaneum
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Papyrus

PAPY'RUS

,
Noun.
[L.] An Egyptian plant, a kind of reed, of which the ancients made paper.

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