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wallpaper

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Etymology and origin of the English word wallpaper

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1827 Drake and Mansfield, Cincinnati in 1826
Ultimate origins
Latin vallumAnglo-Norman papir
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin vallum
English wall
English wallpaper
From the same root
Latin intervallum ← vallum
Latin vallo ← vallum

Pronunciation

  • /ˈwɔːlˌpeɪpə/[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from English wall + paper.[2][3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ornamental paper for covering the inside walls of a room: 1827, in Drake and Mansfield's Cincinnati in 1826.[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense, an unobtrusive background, often said disparagingly of music or other sound, is recorded from 1919.[2][4] In American criminal slang wallpaper was worthless or counterfeit money, from 1931.[7][8] With personal computers it came to mean the background image of a screen, recorded from 1990.[2] The verb is dated 1918 by Merriam-Webster and 1934 by the OED.[6][2]

Timeline

  • 1827 – decorative paper for interior walls.[2][3][6]
  • 1918 – verb, to cover a wall with wallpaper.[6]
  • 1919 – figurative, an unobtrusive background.[2]
  • 1931 – US slang, counterfeit or worthless money.[7]
  • 1990 – the background image of a computer screen.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Paper, usually printed or embossed with patterns, pasted onto the walls of a room as decoration: They chose a striped wallpaper for the hall.[9][6][2]
  2. Something bland or unobtrusive that serves as a background, especially music: wallpaper music.[9][2][4]
  3. (computing) The background image or pattern on a computer desktop or phone screen.[9][6][2]

Verb

  1. To cover a wall or room with wallpaper.[6][2]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  8. ^ Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry, eds. (2013), The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 2nd ed., London: Routledge
  9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Wallpaper.” Etymologically, 25 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/wallpaper. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·