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paper

Greek pápyros named the Egyptian reed and the writing sheets made from it. Latin papyrus became paper in Catalan, where Europe's first paper mills stood; Catalan gave Spanish and Portuguese papel and so the Philippines, French papier spread north to Dutch, German, Polish and Swedish, and the word reached English through Anglo-Norman.

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The story you may have heard

From Egyptian pa-per-aa 'that of Pharaoh', because papyrus was a royal monopoly. No such Egyptian word for papyrus is attested; the idea remains a guess.

The road to English

From Latin to Old French, French

From Latin to German

From German to Polish

From German to Swedish

From Old French to Dutch

From Catalan to Spanish

From Spanish to Tagalog

From Catalan to Portuguese

From English to Japanese

300 BCEAncient Greek

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.

paper

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The road to English

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