If you are fluent in French, you may already know this, but it is still fascinating: the term paiper-mâché translates to “chewed up paper”! The papier part originates from Old French papier, which also gave rise to the English word paper. This can be traced back to Latin papyrus, a material distinct from modern paper, with its origins believed to be Egyptian. As mentioned in a recent blog post, a circumflex accent on a French vowel often signifies the omission of the letter s, which is the case with mâché. This term is derived from the Latin verb masticare, meaning “to chew” (also the source of the English word masticate), which in turn comes from Ancient Greek mastikhan, signifying “to gnash the teeth,” and Proto-Indo-European mendh, denoting “to chew.”
