Wrapper

How to spell wrapper

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce wrapper

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does wrapper mean?

1. nounA piece of paper, plastic, or foil that covers or encloses a product.

Wrapper in a sentence

• He peeled the wrapper off the chocolate bar and threw it in the bin.

• The sandwich came in a clear plastic wrapper stamped with the use-by date.

Where does wrapper come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The word builds on the verb 'wrap', which appears in Middle English as 'wrappen', meaning to wind, fold, or cover something over. Its earlier origin is genuinely uncertain; it has no clear cousin in the older Germanic languages, though it may be related to dialect words for twisting or rolling. By adding the agent or instrument suffix '-er', English produced 'wrapper' to name the thing that does the wrapping, that is, the covering itself. The sense of a paper or plastic covering for goods grew firmly in the 1700s and 1800s as packaged products became common. The silent 'w' before 'r' is the spelling trap: it survives from an old pronunciation that has long since fallen away, just as it has in 'write', 'wrong', and 'wrist'.

How the word is built

• wrap (to enclose or cover)
• -er (noun suffix: thing that wraps)

Words that sound like wrapper

They sound the same but mean different things, so the meaning decides which spelling to write.

• rapper: A performer who delivers rhymed lyrics rhythmically over a musical beat.