Meanings
nounbookshelf (plural bookshelves)
plural bookshelves
- furnitureA shelf or shelves for storing books for easy visual reference.
Another, with the bump of order unnaturally developed, had his folios and quartos all reduced, in binding, to one size, so that they might look even on his bookshelves.
1902, William Blades, The Enemies of Books, 2nd edition, page 102
Origin
Translations
Arabic رَفّ كُتُب, رَفُّ الْكُتُب
- رَفّ كُتُب (raff kutub)shelf for storing books
- رَفُّ الْكُتُب (raffu l-kutub)shelf for storing books
Bulgarian ла́вица за кни́ги, по́лица за кни́ги
- ла́вица за кни́ги (lávica za knígi)shelf for storing books
- по́лица за кни́ги (pólica za knígi)shelf for storing books
Chinese Cantonese 書架 /书架
- 書架 /书架shelf for storing books
Chinese Mandarin 書架 /书架, 書櫥 /书橱
- 書架 /书架 (shūjià)shelf for storing books
- 書櫥 /书橱 (shūchú)shelf for storing books
Czech knihovnička
- knihovničkashelf for storing books
Danish bogreol, boghylde
- bogreolshelf for storing books
- boghyldeshelf for storing books
Dutch boekenkast
- boekenkastshelf for storing books
Esperanto libro-bretaro, librobreto
- libro-bretaroshelf for storing books
- librobretoshelf for storing books
Estonian raamaturiiul
- raamaturiiulshelf for storing books
Finnish kirjahylly
- kirjahyllyshelf for storing books
French bibliothèque, étagère
- bibliothèqueshelf for storing books
- étagèreshelf for storing books
German Regal, Bücherregal
- Regalshelf for storing books
- Bücherregalshelf for storing books
Greek ράφι για βιβλία, βιβλιοθήκη
- ράφι για βιβλία (ráfi gia vivlía)shelf for storing books
- βιβλιοθήκη (vivliothíki)shelf for storing books
Hebrew אֲרוֹן סְפָרִים
- אֲרוֹן סְפָרִים (arón s'farím)shelf for storing books
Hungarian könyvespolc
- könyvespolcshelf for storing books
Icelandic bókahilla
- bókahillashelf for storing books
Indonesian rak buku
- rak bukushelf for storing books
Irish seilf leabhar
- seilf leabharshelf for storing books
Italian libreria
- libreriashelf for storing books
Japanese 本棚, 書架
- 本棚 (hondana)shelf for storing books
- 書架 (shoka)shelf for storing books
- 書棚 (shodana)shelf for storing books
Korean 책장, 책꽂이
- 책장 (chaekjang)shelf for storing books
- 책꽂이 (chaekkkoji)shelf for storing books
Latin foruli, pluteus
- forulishelf for storing books
- pluteusshelf for storing books
Latvian grāmatu plaukts, grāmatplaukts
- grāmatu plauktsshelf for storing books
- grāmatplauktsshelf for storing books
Lithuanian knygų lentyna
- knygų lentynashelf for storing books
Māori whata pukapuka
- whata pukapukashelf for storing books
Norwegian Bokmål bokhylle
- bokhylleshelf for storing books
Polish półka na książki, biblioteczka
- półka na książkishelf for storing books
- biblioteczkashelf for storing books
Portuguese estante
- estanteshelf for storing books
Romanian raft, etajeră
- raftshelf for storing books
- etajerăshelf for storing books
Russian кни́жная по́лка, этаже́рка
- кни́жная по́лка (knížnaja pólka)shelf for storing books
- этаже́рка (etažérka)shelf for storing books
Slovak knižnica
- knižnicashelf for storing books
Spanish estantería, librero
- estanteríashelf for storing books
- libreroshelf for storing books
- estanteshelf for storing books
- libreríashelf for storing books
Swedish bokhylla
- bokhyllashelf for storing books
Thai ชั้นวางหนังสือ, ชั้นหนังสือ
- ชั้นวางหนังสือ (chán-waang-nǎng-sʉ̌ʉ)shelf for storing books
- ชั้นหนังสือ (chán-nǎng-sʉ̌ʉ)shelf for storing books
- หิ้งหนังสือ (hîng-nǎng-sʉ̌ʉ)shelf for storing books
Turkish kitaplık
- kitaplıkshelf for storing books
Ukrainian книжко́ва поли́ця
- книжко́ва поли́ця (knyžkóva polýcja)shelf for storing books
Vietnamese giá sách, kệ sách
- giá sáchshelf for storing books
- kệ sáchshelf for storing books
Welsh silff lyfrau, silffoedd llyfrau
- silff lyfraushelf for storing books
- silffoedd llyfraushelf for storing books
Cite this entry
APA
bookshelf. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bookshelf
MLA
“bookshelf.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bookshelf. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bookshelf,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bookshelf.
Source: bookshelf on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.