papier-mâché

See also: papier-mache, papier mache, and papier mâché

English

A papier-mâché mask

Alternative forms

• paper mache (informal)
• paper mâché (informal)
• paper maché (informal)
• paper machee (informal)
• papier mache
• papier-mache
• papier-maché

Etymology

Borrowed from French papier mâché (literally “chewed-up paper”). See French papier and mâcher, related to the English words paper and masticate, respectively.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌpapɪ.eɪ ˈmaʃeɪ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌpeɪpɚ məˈʃeɪ/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æʃeɪ, -eɪ

Noun

papier-mâché (uncountable)

1. Torn-up paper and other possible materials mixed with paste or glue used to create, when the mass is dried, a durable sculptural object.
   • 2002, Zadie Smith, The Autograph Man, Penguin Books (2003), page 236:

     She sat completely alone at the very back of the sea-themed restaurant, amid papier-mâché starfish and plastic shrimp.

Hyponyms

• carton-pierre

Translations

paper mixed with glue to create a sculptural object

• Armenian: թղթազանգված (hy) (tʻġtʻazangvac), պապիե-մաշե (papie-maše)
• Belarusian: пап'е́-машэ́ n (papʺjé-mašé)
• Bulgarian: папие́-маше́ n (papié-mašé), папиемаше́ n (papiemašé)
• Catalan: paper maixé m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 紙型 / 纸型 (zh) (zhǐxíng)

• Czech: papírmaš m, papírová masa f
• Danish: papmaché c
• Dutch: papier-maché (nl) n
• Estonian: papjeemašee
• Finnish: paperimassa (fi)
• French: papier mâché (fr) m
• Galician: papel maché m
• Georgian: პაპიემაშე (ṗaṗiemaše)
• German: Pappmaschee (de) n, Pappmaché (de) n, Papiermaché n
• Gujarati: કાગળનો માવો m (kāgaḷno māvo)
• Hebrew: עיסת נייר / עִסַּת נְיָר (he) m (isát nyar)
• Hungarian: papírmasé (hu)
• Ido: paperopasto (io)
• Indonesian: bubur kertas
• Italian: cartapesta (it) f
• Japanese: 張子 (ja), 張り子 (ja) (はりこ, hariko), パピエ・マシェ (papie-mashe)
• Korean: 혼응지(混凝紙) (honeungji), 파피에마세 (papiemase)
• Latvian: papjēmašē f
• Lithuanian: papjė mašė f
• Maori: pepa whakapiripiri
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: pappmasjé m

• Persian: پاپیه ماشه (pâpiye mâše)
• Polish: papier mâché n
• Portuguese: papel-machê m, papel machê m
• Romanian: papier mâché (ro) n
• Russian: папье́-маше́ (ru) n (papʹjé-mašé)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: па̀пӣр-маше m, каширанӣ па̀пӣр m

  Roman: pàpīr-maše m, kaširanī pàpīr m

• Spanish: papel maché (es) m
• Swedish: papier-maché (sv) c
• Tamil: தாள் ஊறல் (tāḷ ūṟal)
• Telugu: కాగితపు గుజ్జు (kāgitapu gujju)
• Ukrainian: пап'є́-маше́ n (papʺjé-mašé)
• Vietnamese: pa-pi-ê-ma-sê
• Welsh: mwydion papur m, uwd papur m

See also

• collage
• decoupage

Verb

papier-mâché (third-person singular simple present papier-mâchés, present participle papier-mâchéing, simple past and past participle papier-mâchéd or papier-mâchéed)

1. To apply papier-mâché to.
   • 1954, Emmett Kelly, F[rancis] Beverly Kelley, Clown, page 116:

     I have had it rebuilt, papier-mâchéd inside and otherwise repaired through the years.

   • 1959, SchoolArts, page 21:

     When the bodies of the fish were finished, fins were cut from cardboard to the desired shapes, pinned with straight pins to the fish, and papier-mâchéd in place.

   • 1990, Sarah Ellis, Next-Door Neighbors, New York, N.Y.: Margaret K. McElderry Books, →ISBN, page 78:

     In a giddy moment they had also papier-mâchéd the legs of the card table.

   • 2016, Isy Suttie, The Actual One: How I Tried, and Failed, to Remain Twenty-Something for Ever, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, →ISBN:

     I instead constructed ‘shelves’ inside Roy’s stomach, made from mesh, which I then also papier mâchéd.

   • 2019, Annabeth Bondor-Stone, Connor White, Jaclyn Hyde, HarperCollins, →ISBN:

     I papier-mâchéed the entire volcano, constructed the tiny town out of toothpicks, and doublechecked the calculations to make sure it’s all to scale.

   • 2020, Nancy Snyder, Lions for Ajax, Shepherd Press, →ISBN:

     Then he taped another cardboard tube on and papier-mâchéd it.