papyrus
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papyrus
A writing-material-like product made in antiquity from the stems of the papyrus plant. It was the precursor of paper and was usually used in the form of scrolls.
Die alten Ägypter schrieben ihre Hieroglyphen auf Rollen aus Papyrus.
The ancient Egyptians wrote their hieroglyphs on scrolls made of papyrus.
papyrus
An ancient written text or document written on the material papyrus.
In der Ausstellung wurde ein seltener Papyrus mit einem medizinischen Text gezeigt.
A rare papyrus with a medical text was shown in the exhibition.
papyrus
A marsh plant with tall, thick stems that grows mainly on the banks of the Nile and from which the writing material of the same name was obtained. It is also used as an ornamental plant.
Am Ufer des Gartenteichs wächst hoher Papyrus.
Tall papyrus grows on the bank of the garden pond.
As a loanword, 'Papyrus' has a special plural: 'die Papyri' (the papyri). This form is almost always used when talking about the ancient written documents (meaning 2).
Archäologen haben mehrere antike Papyri in der Wüste gefunden.
Archaeologists found several ancient papyri in the desert.
To distinguish the meanings: when 'Papyrus' (papyrus) refers to the uncountable material, prepositions like 'aus' (from/made of) or 'auf' (on) often come before it. When a countable document is meant, you find verbs like 'lesen' (to read), 'finden' (to find), or 'entziffern' (to decipher).
Man lernte, aus Papyrus ein schreibbares Material herzustellen.
People learned to make a writable material from papyrus.
When the plant is meant, 'Papyrus' (papyrus) often appears in a botanical or geographical context. Typical verbs are 'wachsen' (to grow) or 'pflanzen' (to plant), often in connection with places like 'Ufer' (bank/shore) or 'Garten' (garden).
Die Papyrus-Pflanze benötigt viel Wasser und Sonne zum Wachsen.
The papyrus plant needs a lot of water and sun to grow.
When referring to the writing material, typical phrases are 'auf Papyrus schreiben' (to write on papyrus), 'eine Rolle aus Papyrus' (a scroll made of papyrus), or 'ein Bogen Papyrus' (a sheet of papyrus).
Die Nachricht wurde auf einem kleinen Stück Papyrus geschrieben.
The message was written on a small piece of papyrus.
paper
Papier and Papyrus are different writing materials. Papier is usually made from cellulose; in antiquity, Papyrus was made from the stems of the papyrus plant and often joined into scrolls. For the ancient material, Papyrus is therefore the correct term, not Papier.
Im Altertum schrieb ein Schüler seinen Text auf Papyrus aus Pflanzenstängeln.
In antiquity, a student wrote his text on papyrus made from plant stems.
Heute schreibt die Schülerin ihren Text auf Papier aus Zellstoff.
Today, the student is writing her text on cellulose-based paper.
