Paperwork

How to spell paperwork

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce paperwork

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does paperwork mean?

1. nounRoutine written or printed documents, forms, and records, especially those required by administrative or official procedures.

Paperwork in a sentence

• The loan was approved once all the paperwork had been signed.

• Customs officers asked to see the paperwork for the imported goods.

Where does paperwork come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is a straightforward English compound joining 'paper' and 'work', and both halves carry deep histories of their own. 'Paper' descends through Old French 'papier' from the Latin 'papyrus', which named the reed plant of the Nile whose pith the ancient Egyptians beat into writing sheets; the Latin itself was borrowed from Greek 'papyros'. 'Work' is a native Germanic word, from Old English 'weorc', meaning labour or a thing done, related to the Greek 'ergon' for 'task'. The compound 'paperwork' is relatively modern, emerging in the nineteenth century to describe the documents and forms that office labour produces. Because it is a clean compound of two familiar words written solid, with no joining vowel and no doubled letter, it holds few real spelling traps.

How the word is built

• paper (noun)
• work (noun); a transparent compound