Meanings
plural bibliophages
- figurativelyA person who loves to read books; a bookworm.
Janet loved reading. She was a real bibliophage.
- A creature that consumes books’ physical contents.
1 more example
Once inside, they begin to mine; there may be apparently nothing wrong outside, but when you open the book you find a hollow filled with insects, which have eaten almost all the letterpress, up to the margins. By keeping the shelves away from the walls and giving a little attention to wormy volumes, the Library may be easily freed from this kind of Bibliophage.
1887, James Rodway, Timehri, volume I, page 306
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Ancient Greekβῐ́βλος“book”
- Englishbibliophage
From biblio- + -phage, from Ancient Greek βῐ́βλος (bĭ́blos, “book”) and φαγεῖν (phageîn, “to eat”).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Portuguese bibliófago
- bibliófagocreature that consumes books
Cite this entry
bibliophage. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bibliophage
“bibliophage.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bibliophage. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bibliophage,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bibliophage.
Source: bibliophage on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.