Etymology

bible

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Today it means: A comprehensive manual that describes something, or a publication with a loyal readership; a foundational text. Full definition →

Middle English bible ← Ancient Greek βιβλία
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bible · proper noun, noun1

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromβιβλία“books”
  2. Middle English · inherited frombible
  3. English todaybible

From Middle English bible, from Middle Latin biblia (“book”) (misinterpreted as a feminine from earlier Latin neuter plural biblia (“books”)), from Ancient Greek βιβλία (biblía, “books”), plural of βιβλίον (biblíon, “small book”), originally a diminutive of βίβλος (bíblos, “book”), from βύβλος (búblos, “papyrus”) (from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported this writing material). Old English used biblioþēce (from βιβλιοθήκη) and ġewritu (> English writs) for "the Scriptures".

Bible · proper noun, noun2

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromβιβλία“books”
  2. Medieval Latin · derived frombiblia“book”
  3. Middle English · inherited frombible
  4. English todayBible

From Middle English bible, from Medieval Latin biblia (“book”) (misinterpreted as a feminine from earlier Latin neuter plural biblia (“books”)), from Ancient Greek βιβλία (biblía, “books”), plural of βιβλίον (biblíon, “small book”), originally a diminutive of βίβλος (bíblos, “book”), from βύβλος (búblos, “papyrus”) (from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported this writing material). Old English used biblioþēce (from βιβλιοθήκη) and ġewritu (whence English writs) for "the Scriptures".

Bible · proper noun3

From a Middle English diminutive of the given name Isabel.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.