paper

English Online Dictionary. What means paper‎? What does paper mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English paper, from Anglo-Norman paper, from Old Catalan paper, borrowed from Latin papȳrus (and given the Catalan suffix -er), from Ancient Greek πάπυρος (pápuros).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpeɪpə/
• (General American) enPR: pā'pər, IPA^(key): /ˈpeɪpɚ/, [ˈpʰeɪpɚ]
• (India) IPA^(key): [ˈpeːpə(r)], [ˈpeɪpə(r)]
• Rhymes: -eɪpə(ɹ)

Noun

paper (countable and uncountable, plural papers)

1. A sheet material typically used for writing on or printing on (or as a non-waterproof container), usually made by draining cellulose fibres from a suspension in water.
2. A newspaper or anything used as such (such as a newsletter or listing magazine).
3. (uncountable) Wallpaper.
4. (uncountable) Wrapping paper.
5. (rock paper scissors) An open hand (a handshape resembling a sheet of paper), that beats rock and loses to scissors. It loses to lizard and beats Spock in rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock.
6. A written document, generally shorter than a book (white paper, term paper), in particular one written for the Government.
7. A written document that reports scientific or academic research and is usually subjected to peer review before publication in a scientific journal (as a journal article or the manuscript for one) or in the proceedings of a scientific or academic meeting (such as a conference, workshop, or symposium).
8. A scholastic essay.
9. (British, Hong Kong) A set of examination questions to be answered at one session.
10. (slang) Money.
12. (finance, uncountable) Any financial assets other than specie.
13. (New Zealand) A university course. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
14. A paper packet containing a quantity of items.

15. A medicinal preparation spread upon paper, intended for external application.

16. A substance resembling paper secreted by certain invertebrates as protection for their nests and eggs.
17. (dated) Free passes of admission to a theatre, etc.
18. (dated, by extension) The people admitted by free passes.

Synonyms

• (medium used in writing): bookfell

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

• papier-mâché
• papirosa
• papyrus

Descendants

Translations

Adjective

paper (not comparable)

1. Made of paper.
2. Insubstantial (from the weakness of common paper)
   • 2016: Manila Standard, "Speed limiter law: A paper tiger"; Maricel Cruz

     Speed limiter law: A paper tiger

   • 2016: The Australian, "China says Australia ‘is no paper tiger, only a paper cat at best’"; Rowan Callick

     It concluded that Australia was “not even a paper tiger, it’s only a paper cat at best”

3. Planned (from plans being drawn up on paper)
   • 2015: CBS News, "ULA unveils new rocket to replace Russian boosters"; William Harwood

     In a background teleconference hosted by SpaceX late last week, an unnamed official dismissed ULA's new booster as a "paper rocket," saying he doubted it would be significantly cheaper than ULA's current stable of launchers.

   • 2010: BBC News, "Pratt & Whitney eyes global plane engine deals"; Jorn Madslien

     Ours is not a paper engine... these are real engines that are in production today
4. Having a title that is merely official, or given by courtesy or convention.

   a paper baron; a paper lord

Translations

See also

• paper tiger

Verb

paper (third-person singular simple present papers, present participle papering, simple past and past participle papered)

1. (transitive) To apply paper to.

   to paper the hallway walls

2. (transitive) To document; to memorialize.

3. (transitive) To fill (a theatre or other paid event) with complimentary seats.

   Synonym: paper the house
4. (transitive) To submit official papers to (a law court, etc.).
5. (transitive) To give public notice (typically by displaying posters) that a person is wanted by the police or other authority.
6. (transitive) To sandpaper.
7. (transitive) To enfold in paper.
8. To paste the endpapers and flyleaves at the beginning and end of a book before fitting it into its covers.
9. (Northeastern US) To cover someone's house with toilet paper. Otherwise known as toilet papering or TPing.

Related terms

• paper over

Translations

Anagrams

• pre-AP

Basque

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /paper/ [pa.per]
• Rhymes: -aper, -er
• Hyphenation: pa‧per

Noun

paper inan

1. paper (material)
2. sheet of paper
3. (colloquial) newspaper

   Synonym: egunkari

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

• “paper”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]
• “paper”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

Catalan

Etymology

From Old Catalan paper, borrowed from Latin papȳrus and suffixed with -er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [pəˈpe]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [paˈpeɾ]

Noun

paper m (plural papers)

1. paper
2. role

Derived terms

References

• “paper” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “paper” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “paper” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Cornish

Etymology

Borrowed from English paper.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /papəɹ/

Noun

paper m (plural paperyow)

1. paper

Derived terms

Mutation

References

• Cornish-English Dictionary from Maga's Online Dictionary

Dutch

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English paper. Doublet of papier.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpeːpər/
• Homophone: peper

Noun

paper m or n (plural papers, diminutive papertje n)

1. (informal) paper (short essay or research document), particularly a research paper

   Synonyms: essay, opstel

Derived terms

• onderzoekspaper

Franco-Provençal

Noun

paper (Old Dauphinois)

1. Alternative form of papiér (“paper”)

References

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “papyrus”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volumes 7: N–Pas, page 590

Latvian

Verb

paper

1. inflection of papērt:
   1. second/third-person singular present indicative
   2. third-person plural present indicative
   3. second-person singular imperative
2. (with the particle lai) third-person singular imperative of papērt
3. (with the particle lai) third-person plural imperative of papērt

Middle English

Alternative forms

• papere, papir, papure, papyr, papyre, pauper, paupir

Etymology

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman paper.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /paˈpeːr/, /paːˈpeːr/, /ˈpaːpər/, /ˈpapər/, /ˈpaːpiːr/

Noun

paper (plural papyres)

1. paper (thin, white writing surface made of wood pulp)
2. A message or note; something that is written.
3. A record or accounting document.

Descendants

• English: paper
  • Tok Pisin: pepa
    • → Rotokas: pepa
  • → Dutch: paper
  • → Eastern Arrernte: pipe
  • → Esperanto: papero
    • Ido: papero
  • → Hawaiian: pepa
  • → Japanese: ペーパー (pēpā)
  • → Malayalam: പേപ്പർ (pēppaṟ)
  • → Maori: pepa
  • → Marshallese: peba
  • → Mokilese: peipa
  • → Niuean: pepa
  • → Scottish Gaelic: pàipear
  • → Southern Ndebele: iphepha
  • → Spanish: paper
  • → Swazi: líphepha
  • → Xhosa: iphepha
  • → Yoruba: bébà, pépà
  • → Zulu: iphepha
• Scots: paper
• → Welsh: papur

References

• “papī̆r(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-24.

Old Catalan

Etymology

Semi-learned borrowing from Latin papyrus, adapted to the Catalan suffix -er (< Latin -ārius). First attested in 1249, soon after the Catalans became the first Europeans to control a paper mill by capturing the one in Xàtiva from the Moors.

Noun

paper m

1. paper (sheet material typically used for writing on or printing)

Descendants

• Catalan: paper
• → Old Navarro-Aragonese: paper, papel
  • Aragonese: papel
• → Old French: papier (see there for further descendants)
• → Old Galician-Portuguese: papel
  • Fala: papel
  • Galician: papel
  • Portuguese: papel (see there for further descendants)
• → Old Spanish: papel
  • Spanish: papel (see there for further descendants)

References

• Coromines, Joan (1980–1991) “paper”, in Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, Barcelona: Curial Edicions Catalanes.

Old French

Noun

paper oblique singular, m (oblique plural papers, nominative singular papers, nominative plural paper)

1. Alternative form of papier

Old Navarro-Aragonese

Alternative forms

• papel (also from ca. 1400)

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Catalan paper. Attested from ca. 1400.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /paˈpeɾ/

Noun

paper m

1. paper

Descendants

• Aragonese: papel

References

• Coromines, Joan (1980–1991) “paper”, in Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, Barcelona: Curial Edicions Catalanes.

Polish

Pronunciation

• (Lesser Poland):
  • (Przemyśl) IPA^(key): [ˈpa.pɛr]

Noun

paper m pers

1. (Przemyśl) Alternative form of pauper

   Ej, ty paprze! Nie tacy byli. ― Hey, you rapscallion! They weren't like that.

Further reading

• Aleksander Saloni (1908) “paper”, in “Lud rzeszowski”, in Materyały Antropologiczno-Archeologiczne i Etnograficzne (in Polish), volume 10, Kraków: Akademia Umiejętności, page 338

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English paper. Doublet of papel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpeipeɾ/ [ˈpei̯.peɾ]
• Rhymes: -eipeɾ
• Syllabification: pa‧per

Noun

paper m (plural papers)

1. paper (written document that reports scientific or academic research)

Usage notes

• According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.