Paper vs. Page: What's the Difference?
Edited by Harlon Moss || By Janet White || Updated on October 2, 2023
"Paper" refers to the material used for writing, printing, or packaging, while "page" denotes a single sheet of paper in a book, magazine, or document.
Key Differences
"Paper" and "page" are commonly used terms, but they refer to different aspects of written or printed material. "Paper" broadly refers to a thin material made from fibers, primarily used for writing, printing, or packaging. In contrast, "page" is more specific and refers to a single sheet of paper in a book, magazine, or document, often containing text or images.
In terms of grammar, both "paper" and "page" function primarily as nouns. However, "paper" can also be used as a verb in contexts like "to paper the walls," meaning to cover walls with wallpaper. The word "page" is rarely used as a verb, but when it is, it usually means to summon someone using a pager or intercom.
The word "paper" has various usages and can signify scholarly articles, newspapers, or even essays submitted for a class. "Page," on the other hand, is used to count the length of these documents and is a unit representing one side of a sheet within any given collection of sheets.
"Paper" can also refer to the field of academics, as in "a call for papers," inviting scholarly contributions. "Page," in a different context, can represent a role or job, such as a legislative page responsible for running errands in legislative assemblies.
In summary, while "paper" is a more expansive term referring to material, documents, or even a field of study, "page" is more confined and refers primarily to one side of a sheet of paper in a bound item like a book or magazine.
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Comparison Chart
Grammatical Role
Primarily a noun, also a verb
Primarily a noun, rarely a verb
Contextual Usage
Broad: material, document, field
Specific: one side of a sheet in a document
Tangibility
Can be both tangible and intangible
Always tangible
In Documents
Refers to the entire document
Refers to a single sheet in a document
Job or Role
Can refer to an academic field
Can refer to a job, such as a legislative page
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Paper and Page Definitions
Paper
A material used for writing or printing.
She bought some paper for her printer.
Page
One side of a sheet in a book or document.
Turn to page 50 for the next chapter.
Paper
A document containing information or arguments.
I have to write a paper for my history class.
Page
To summon using a pager.
I'll page you when it's time to leave.
Paper
A material made of cellulose pulp, derived mainly from wood, rags, and certain grasses, processed into flexible sheets or rolls by deposit from an aqueous suspension, and used chiefly for writing, printing, drawing, wrapping, and covering walls.
Page
A side of a sheet of paper, as in a book or newspaper
Tore a page from the book.
Paper
A single sheet of this material.
Page
The writing or printing on one side of a page.
Paper
A formal written composition intended to be published, presented, or read aloud; a scholarly essay or treatise.
Page
The type set for printing one side of a page.
Paper
A piece of written work for school; a report or theme.
Page
A noteworthy or memorable event
A new page in history.
Paper
Often papers An official document, especially one establishing the identity of the bearer.
Page
(Computers) A webpage.
Paper
Papers A collection of letters, diaries, and other writings, especially by one person
The Madison papers.
Page
(Computers) A quantity of memory storage equal to between 512 and 4,096 bytes.
Paper
Short-term debt instruments, especially commercial paper.
Page
Pages A source or record of knowledge
In the pages of science.
Paper
A newspaper.
Page
A boy who acted as a knight's attendant as the first stage of training for chivalric knighthood.
Paper
Wallpaper.
Page
A youth in ceremonial employment or attendance at court.
Paper
A wrapper made of paper, often with its contents
A paper of pins.
Page
One who is employed to run errands, carry messages, or act as a guide in a hotel, theater, or club.
Paper
A free pass to a theater.
Page
One who is similarly employed in the US Congress or another legislature.
Paper
The audience admitted with free passes.
Page
A boy who holds the bride's train at a wedding.
Paper
To cover, wrap, or line with paper.
Page
To number the pages of; paginate
Page a manuscript.
Paper
To cover with wallpaper.
Page
To turn pages
Page through a magazine.
Paper
To supply with paper.
Page
To summon or call (a person) by name.
Paper
(Slang) To issue free passes for (a theater, for example).
Page
To contact (someone) by sending a message to that person's pager
The doctor was paged during dinner.
Paper
To construct (something) in haste and with little forethought
Papered together a new coalition of political convenience.
Page
To attend as a page.
Paper
Made of paper.
Page
One of the many pieces of paper bound together within a book or similar document.
Paper
Resembling paper, as in thinness or flimsiness.
Page
One side of a paper leaf on which one has written or printed.
Paper
Of or relating to clerical work
Paper duties.
Page
(figurative) Any record or writing; a collective memory.
The page of history
Paper
Existing only in printed or written form
Paper profits.
A paper corporation.
Page
(typesetting) The type set up for printing a page.
Paper
Planned but not realized; theoretical.
Page
(computing) A screenful of text and possibly other content; especially, the digital simulation of one side of a paper leaf.
Paper
A sheet material used for writing on or printing on (or as a non-waterproof container), usually made by draining cellulose fibres from a suspension in water.
Page
(Internet) A web page.
Paper
A newspaper or anything used as such (such as a newsletter or listing magazine).
Page
(computing) A block of contiguous memory of a fixed length.
Paper
(uncountable) Wallpaper.
Page
(obsolete) A serving boy; a youth attending a person of high degree, especially at courts, often as a position of honor and education.
Paper
(uncountable) Wrapping paper.
Page
(British) A youth employed for doing errands, waiting on the door, and similar service in households.
Paper
(rock paper scissors) An open hand (a handshape resembling a sheet of paper), that beats rock and loses to scissors. It loses to lizard and beats Spock in rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock.
Page
A boy or girl employed to wait upon the members of a legislative body.
Paper
A written document, generally shorter than a book (white paper, term paper), in particular one written for the Government.
Page
(in libraries) The common name given to an employee whose main purpose is to replace materials that have either been checked out or otherwise moved, back to their shelves.
Paper
A written document that reports scientific or academic research and is usually subjected to peer review before publication in a scientific journal (as a journal article or the manuscript for one) or in the proceedings of a scientific or academic meeting (such as a conference, workshop, or symposium).
Page
A contrivance, as a band, pin, snap, or the like, to hold the skirt of a woman’s dress from the ground.
Paper
A scholastic essay.
Page
A track along which pallets carrying newly molded bricks are conveyed to the hack.
Paper
(Britain) A set of examination questions to be answered at one session.
Page
A message sent to someone's pager.
Paper
(slang) Money.
Page
Any one of several species of colorful South American moths of the genus Urania.
Paper
Any financial assets other than specie.
Page
(transitive) To mark or number the pages of, as a book or manuscript.
Paper
(New Zealand) A university course. en
Page
To turn several pages of a publication.
The patient paged through magazines while he waited for the doctor.
Paper
A paper packet containing a quantity of items.
A paper of pins, tacks, opium, etc.
Page
(transitive) To furnish with folios.
Paper
A medicinal preparation spread upon paper, intended for external application.
Cantharides paper
Page
(transitive) To attend (someone) as a page.
Paper
A substance resembling paper secreted by certain invertebrates as protection for their nests and eggs.
Page
To call or summon (someone).
Paper
(dated) Free passes of admission to a theatre, etc.
Page
To contact (someone) by means of a pager or other mobile device.
I'll be out all day, so page me if you need me.
Paper
The people admitted by free passes.
Page
(transitive) To call (somebody) using a public address system to find them.
An SUV parked me in. Could you please page its owner?
Paper
Made of paper.
Paper bag; paper plane
Page
A serving boy; formerly, a youth attending a person of high degree, especially at courts, as a position of honor and education; now commonly, in England, a youth employed for doing errands, waiting on the door, and similar service in households; in the United States, a boy or girl employed to wait upon the members of a legislative body. Prior to 1960 only boys served as pages in the United States Congress
He had two pages of honor - on either hand one.
Paper
Insubstantial from the weakness of common paper
Paper tiger; paper gangster
Page
A boy child.
Paper
Planned from plans being drawn up on paper
Paper rocket; paper engine
Page
A contrivance, as a band, pin, snap, or the like, to hold the skirt of a woman's dress from the ground.
Paper
Having a title that is merely official, or given by courtesy or convention.
A paper baron; a paper lord
Page
A track along which pallets carrying newly molded bricks are conveyed to the hack.
Paper
(transitive) To apply paper to.
To paper the hallway walls
Page
Any one of several species of beautiful South American moths of the genus Urania.
Paper
(transitive) To document; to memorialize.
After they reached an agreement, their staffs papered it up.
Page
One side of a leaf of a book or manuscript.
Such was the book from whose pages she sang.
Paper
(transitive) To fill (a theatre or other paid event) with complimentary seats.
Page
A record; a writing; as, the page of history.
Paper
(transitive) To submit official papers to (a law court, etc.).
Page
The type set up for printing a page.
Paper
(transitive) To give public notice (typically by displaying posters) that a person is wanted by the police or other authority.
Page
To attend (one) as a page.
Paper
(transitive) To sandpaper.
Page
To call out a person's name in a public place, so as to deliver a message, as in a hospital, restaurant, etc.
Paper
(transitive) To enfold in paper.
Page
To call a person on a pager.
Paper
To paste the endpapers and flyleaves at the beginning and end of a book before fitting it into its covers.
Page
To mark or number the pages of, as a book or manuscript; to furnish with folios.
Paper
A substance in the form of thin sheets or leaves intended to be written or printed on, or to be used in wrapping. It is made of rags, straw, bark, wood, or other fibrous material, which is first reduced to pulp, then molded, pressed, and dried.
Page
One side of one leaf (of a book or magasine or newspaper or letter etc.) or the written or pictorial matter it contains
Paper
A sheet, leaf, or piece of such substance.
Page
English industrialist who pioneered in the design and manufacture of aircraft (1885-1962)
Paper
A printed or written instrument; a document, essay, or the like; a writing; as, a paper read before a scientific society.
They brought a paper to me to be signed.
Page
United States diplomat and writer about the Old South (1853-1922)
Paper
A printed sheet appearing periodically; a newspaper; a journal; as, a daily paper.
Page
A boy who is employed to run errands
Paper
Negotiable evidences of indebtedness; notes; bills of exchange, and the like; as, the bank holds a large amount of his paper.
Page
A youthful attendant at official functions or ceremonies such as legislative functions and weddings
Paper
Decorated hangings or coverings for walls, made of paper. See Paper hangings, below.
Page
In medieval times a youth acting as a knight's attendant as the first stage in training for knighthood
Paper
A paper containing (usually) a definite quantity; as, a paper of pins, tacks, opium, etc.
Page
Call out somebody's name over a P.A. system
Paper
A medicinal preparation spread upon paper, intended for external application; as, cantharides paper.
Page
Work as a page;
He is paging in Congress this summer
Paper
Documents establishing a person's identity, or status, or attesting to some right, such as the right to drive a vehicle; as, the border guard asked for his papers.
Page
Number the pages of a book or manuscript
Paper
Of or pertaining to paper; made of paper; resembling paper.
Page
A young person employed to run errands.
The senator had a page to assist him.
Paper
Existing only on paper; unsubstantial; as, a paper box; a paper army; a paper tiger.
Page
A webpage.
The web page wouldn't load.
Paper
To cover or line with paper, especially with wallpaper; to furnish with paper hangings; to wallpaper; as, to paper a room or a house.
Page
A unit to measure the length of a document.
The essay must be at least five pages long.
Paper
To fold or inclose in paper.
Paper
To put on paper; to make a memorandum of.
Paper
A material made of cellulose pulp derived mainly from wood or rags or certain grasses
Paper
An essay (especially one written as an assignment);
He got an A on his composition
Paper
A daily or weekly publication on folded sheets; contains news and articles and advertisements;
He read his newspaper at breakfast
Paper
A scholarly article describing the results of observations or stating hypotheses;
He has written many scientific papers
Paper
Medium for written communication;
The notion of an office running without paper is absurd
Paper
A business firm that publishes newspapers;
Murdoch owns many newspapers
Paper
A newspaper as a physical object;
When it began to rain he covered his head with a newspaper
Paper
Cover with paper;
Paper the box
Paper
Cover with wallpaper
Paper
Made of paper;
They wore paper hats at the party
Paper
A scholarly article.
The scientist published a paper on climate change.
FAQs
What does "paper" primarily refer to?
"Paper" primarily refers to the material used for writing, printing, or packaging.
Can "paper" refer to an entire document?
Yes, "paper" can refer to documents like essays, articles, or newspapers.
What does "page" mean?
"Page" refers to one side of a sheet in a book, magazine, or document.
Can "paper" be a verb?
Yes, "paper" can also function as a verb, as in "to paper the walls."
Can "page" be a verb?
Rarely, but yes, "page" can mean to summon someone using a pager.
Can "paper" mean a scholarly article?
Yes, "paper" can also refer to a scholarly article.
What does "page" mean on the internet?
On the internet, a "page" usually refers to a webpage.
Can "page" refer to the length of a document?
Yes, "page" is often used as a unit to measure the length of a document.
What does "page" indicate in a document?
"Page" refers to a single sheet or one side of a sheet in a document.
Is "paper" always tangible?
"Paper" usually refers to a tangible material but can also denote intangible works like scholarly articles.
Can "paper" mean a newspaper?
Yes, "paper" can also mean a newspaper.
Can "page" refer to a job or role?
Yes, "page" can refer to roles like a legislative page.
Is a "page" always tangible?
Generally, yes, except when referring to a webpage.
Can "paper" refer to currency?
Colloquially, yes. "Paper money" refers to banknotes as opposed to coins.
Can "paper" refer to a field of study?
In academic contexts, yes. "A call for papers" invites scholarly contributions.
About Author
Written by
Janet WhiteJanet White has been an esteemed writer and blogger for Difference Wiki. Holding a Master's degree in Science and Medical Journalism from the prestigious Boston University, she has consistently demonstrated her expertise and passion for her field. When she's not immersed in her work, Janet relishes her time exercising, delving into a good book, and cherishing moments with friends and family.
Edited by
Harlon MossHarlon is a seasoned quality moderator and accomplished content writer for Difference Wiki. An alumnus of the prestigious University of California, he earned his degree in Computer Science. Leveraging his academic background, Harlon brings a meticulous and informed perspective to his work, ensuring content accuracy and excellence.
