papyrus
papyrus — 名詞
1. a tall water plant with a triangular stem and feathery green tops, found mainly
紙莎草
生長於北非河邊的高大水生植物
a tall water plant with a triangular stem and feathery green tops, found mainly along rivers and marshes in North Africa, especially the Nile.
Thick clumps of papyrus grew along the muddy edge of the Nile.
尼羅河泥濘的岸邊長著一叢叢茂密的紙莎草。
uncountable: clumps of papyrus
The botanist Dr. Mensah pointed to a stand of papyrus swaying in the breeze.
植物學家 Dr. Mensah 指著一片在微風中搖曳的紙莎草。
Frogs and small birds hide among the tall stems of papyrus near the riverbank.
青蛙和小鳥躲藏在河岸邊高大的紙莎草莖之間。
Farmers in southern Egypt once cut papyrus to make boats, baskets, and rope.
南埃及的農民從前會割下紙莎草來做船、籃子和繩索。
Papyrus can grow up to five metres tall in shallow, slow-moving water.
紙莎草在淺而流速緩慢的水中可以長到五公尺高。
用法筆記
Subject is usually the plant itself or a place where it grows; rarely takes an article in this sense (compare sense 2, where 'a papyrus' refers to a document).
常見錯誤
2. an early form of paper made by pressing thin strips taken from the stem of a tal
紙莎草紙
用紙莎草壓製的古代紙張或其文書
an early form of paper made by pressing thin strips taken from the stem of a tall water reed into flat sheets, used in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome; also a single document or scroll written on such sheets.
Egyptian scribes wrote royal letters on papyrus using reed pens and black ink.
古埃及的書記官用蘆葦筆和黑墨水在紙莎草紙上書寫王室信件。
uncountable: write on papyrus
The museum displays a 3,000-year-old papyrus covered in tiny hieroglyphs.
博物館展示了一張三千年前、佈滿細小象形文字的紙莎草古抄本。
countable: a papyrus = a document
Dr. Khalid spent six months studying a damaged papyrus in the British Museum.
Dr. Khalid 花了六個月研究大英博物館裡一份破損的紙莎草古抄本。
Several papyri found near Oxyrhynchus describe daily life in Roman Egypt.
在 Oxyrhynchus 附近發現的數份紙莎草古抄本描述了羅馬時代埃及的日常生活。
The students learned how ancient Egyptians cut papyrus into strips and pressed it flat.
學生們學到古埃及人如何把紙莎草切成條狀，再壓成平整的紙張。
- scroll
any rolled document; papyrus is one common material for ancient scrolls
- manuscript
any handwritten document; broader and not tied to material
- parchment
competing ancient writing material made from animal skin, not plant fibre
用法筆記
Plural is usually 'papyri' in academic writing, though 'papyruses' is also accepted. Distinguish from sense 1: a 'papyrus' (with 'a' or in the plural) almost always means a written document, not the living plant.