parchment

parchment

See also: Parchment

English

Etymology

From Middle English parchemyn, parchement, from Old French parchemin, via Latin pergamīna, from Ancient Greek Περγαμηνός (Pergamēnós, “of Pergamon”), which is named for the Ancient city of Pergamon (modern Bergama) in Asia Minor, where it was invented as an expensive alternative for papyrus. Cognate with Danish pergament, Dutch perkament, French parchemin, German Pergament, Greek περγαμηνή (pergaminí), Italian pergamena, Norwegian pergament, Portuguese pergaminho, Galician pergameo, Romanian pergament, Russian пергамент (pergament), Spanish pergamino, and Swedish pergament.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑːtʃmənt/

  • Audio (Berkshire, UK)

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑɹt͡ʃmənt/
• Hyphenation: parch‧ment

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

parchment (countable and uncountable, plural parchments)

1. Material, made from the polished skin of a calf, sheep, goat or other animal, used like paper for writing.
   • 1892, Walter Besant, chapter II, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], OCLC 16832619:

     At twilight in the summer there is never anybody to fear—man, woman, or cat—in the chambers and at that hour the mice come out. They do not eat parchment or foolscap or red tape, but they eat the luncheon crumbs.

   • 1973, Jim Stafford (lyrics), “Swamp Witch”, in Jim Stafford, performed by Jim Stafford:

     Never found Hattie and they never found the shack
     Never made the trip back in
     There was a parchment note they found tacked to a stump
     Said: Don't come lookin' again.

   Synonyms: bookfell, membrane, vellum

2. A document made on such material.
3. A diploma (traditionally written on parchment).
4. Stiff paper imitating that material.

   Synonyms: vegetal parchment, parchment paper, wax paper

5. The creamy to tanned color of parchment.
6. The envelope of the coffee grains, inside the pulp.

Derived terms

• baking parchment
• parchmentize
• parchmentlike
• parchment paper
• parchmenty
• virgin parchment

 

Translations

material

Arabic: رق‎ (ar) m (raqq) Armenian: մագաղաթ (hy) (magałatʿ) Bulgarian: пергамент m (pergament) Catalan: pergamí (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 羊皮紙／羊皮纸 (zh) (yángpízhǐ) Classical Nahuatl: ēhuaāmatl Czech: pergamen m Dutch: perkament (nl) n Esperanto: pergameno (eo) Finnish: pergamentti (fi) French: parchemin (fr) m Galician: pergameo (gl) m, pergamiño (gl) m Georgian: ეტრატი (eṭraṭi) German: Pergament (de) n Gothic: 𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌼𐌱𐍂𐌰𐌽𐌰 m (maimbrana) Greek: περγαμηνή (el) f (pergaminí) Ancient: διφθέρα f (diphthéra), μεμβράνα f (membrána) Hebrew: קְלָף‎ (he) m (k'láf) Hungarian: pergamen (hu) Icelandic: bókfell (is) n Irish: párpháipéar m Italian: pergamena (it) f, membrana (it) f, cartapecora (it) f, vello (it) m Japanese: 羊皮紙 (ようひし, yōhishi) Kashubian: pergament m Korean: 양피지(羊皮紙) (ko) (yangpiji) Latin: membrana f Latvian: pergaments m Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can Middle English: parchemyn Nogai: татырга (tatırga) Persian: کراسه‎ (fa) (karâse) Polish: pergamin (pl) m Portuguese: pergaminho (pt) Romanian: pergament (ro) m Russian: перга́мент (ru) m (pergáment) Scottish Gaelic: pàipear-craicinn m Spanish: pergamino (es) m Swedish: pergament (sv) n Thai: please add this translation if you can Turkish: parşömen (tr)

document

Armenian: մագաղաթ (hy) (magałatʿ) Catalan: pergamí (ca) m Dutch: perkament (nl) n Finnish: pergamentti (fi) Galician: pergameo (gl) m, pergamiño (gl) m Georgian: ეტრატი (eṭraṭi) German: Pergament (de) n Greek: περγαμηνή (el) f (pergaminí) Italian: pergamena (it) f Latvian: pergaments m Maori: kirihipi Middle English: parchemyn Persian: کراسه‎ (fa) (karâse) Polish: pergamin (pl) m Russian: перга́мент (ru) m (pergáment) Spanish: pergamino (es) m

diploma (only specific material-related terms, not mere synonyms of diploma)

Dutch: bul (nl), ezelsvel (nl) n French: parchemin (fr) m Galician: pergameo (gl) m, pergamiño (gl) m Greek: περγαμηνή (el) f (pergaminí)

imitating paper

Dutch: perkamentpapier n Finnish: pergamenttipaperi French: vélin (fr) m German: Pergamentpapier (de) n Irish: páipéar párach m, párpháipéar m Russian: перга́ментная бума́га f (pergámentnaja bumága)

creamy or tanned color

Dutch: perkamentkleur

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Swedish: (please verify) pergament (sv), (please verify) veläng

See also

• 📜