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newspaper

Etymology and origin of the English word newspaper

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1667

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈnjuːsˌpeɪ.pə/, US /ˈnuːzˌpeɪ.pɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is a compound of news and paper,[2][3][4] first written newes paper.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A sheet of reports of passing events, issued at short regular intervals: 1667 in Merriam-Webster Unabridged,[3] the 1660s in Etymonline,[2] 1670 in the OED and the Collegiate.[5][6] The thing itself is older than the word.[2]

Semantic evolution

As a modifier, as in newspaper article, newspaper advertisement, it is from 1851,[5] and newspaper English, journalese, from 1888.[5] The verb, at first to read a newspaper, is from the early 19th century, and now, chiefly in American English, to work on a newspaper,[4] from 1943 in the OED.[5] In Scotland a newspaper-man or newspaper-woman was a great reader of newspapers.[7]

Timeline

  • 1667 – a newspaper.[3]
  • 1851 – as a modifier.[5]
  • 1888 – newspaper English.[5]
  • 1943 – verb, to work on a newspaper.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A publication, usually daily or weekly, with news, editorials, feature articles and usually advertising.
  2. A company that publishes such a paper.
  3. The paper on which it is printed; newsprint.

Verb

  1. (chiefly US) To work on a newspaper.

Word family

  • newspaperdom
  • newspaperish
  • newspaperman
  • newspaperwoman

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
Cite this entry

“Newspaper.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/newspaper. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·