rice paper
- noun
- /raɪs ˈpeɪpər/
- The artist used rice paper to create elegant, translucent layers in her artwork.
I'm thinking about making rice paper filled snow cones with coconut milk.
- I'm thinking about making rice paper filled snow cones with coconut milk.
Examples
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Maps were printed on rice paper so they wouldn't rustle when opened.
Academic text (2003) -
Each child also chose a favorite haiku to print neatly on rice paper, which is sometimes used for writing in Japan.
Academic text (1994) -
Or would you like to try our rice paper roll today?
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A message arrived from them in black ink on plain white rice paper folded in half.
Fiction book (1993) -
A square rice paper envelope tinted a delicate red.
Fiction book (1996) -
My favorite was the soft, chewy banana jelly wrapped in rice paper.
Fiction book (1994) -
The rice paper construction is so lightweight, the heft of it so pleasantly delicate.
Fiction book (1997) -
Two days later, Jane's second letter arrives by ordinary mail in a red-tinted rice paper envelope.
Fiction book (1996) -
Sheets of rice paper hung on wire racks above, fluttering gently in the breeze from the door.
Fiction book (1999) -
Using his fingers as if they were tongs, he wraps some fish in a sheet of rice paper and dips it in nuoc cham sauce.
Fiction book (2000)
How Thin
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a straightforward noun–noun compound: the headword denotes a type of paper associated with rice (i.e., paper made from or resembling rice plant material). A B1 learner who knows 'rice' and 'paper' can reliably infer it refers to a thin paper-like material, and the compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically.
Etymology
The noun rice paper may come from very thin sheets made from rice or from the soft inside of a 'rice-paper' tree that looked like real paper, so people used them for writing, art, or wrapping. That's why today rice paper means a very thin, paper-like sheet used for painting, calligraphy, or even edible wrapping.