Meanings
nounlibrarian (plural librarians)
plural librarians
- The keeper, manager of a library.
The amenities of the institute include a well-arranged open-access library of 18,000 volumes, and a small but valuable reference library of railway literature; the present writer is Librarian.
1944 May and June, Arthur B. Longbottom, “The Derby Railway Institute”, in Railway Magazine, page 149 - One who cares for the publications, files etc. in a library, whether staff or volunteer.
- A person who processes and organizes information.
Synonyms & antonyms
Similar
library-keeper
nouna professional person trained in library science and engaged in library services
Similar
Broader
professionalprofessional person
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From library + -an. First attested around 1710.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans bibliotekaris, bibliotekaresse
- bibliotekaristhe manager of a library
- bibliotekaressethe manager of a library
- bibliotekarisone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
Arabic أَمِين مَكْتَبَة, أَمِينَةْ مَكْتَبَة
- أَمِين مَكْتَبَة (ʔamīn maktaba)the manager of a library
- أَمِينَةْ مَكْتَبَة (ʔamīnat maktaba)the manager of a library
Bulgarian библиотека́р, библиотека́рка
- библиотека́р (bibliotekár)the manager of a library
- библиотека́рка (bibliotekárka)the manager of a library
- библиотека́р (bibliotekár)one who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- библиотека́рка (bibliotekárka)one who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- библиотека́р (bibliotekár)a person who processes and organizes information
- библиотека́рка (bibliotekárka)a person who processes and organizes information
Catalan bibliotecari, bibliotecari
- bibliotecarithe manager of a library
- bibliotecarione who cares for the publications etc. in a library
Chinese Mandarin 圖書館館長 /图书馆馆长, 圖書管理員 /图书管理员
- 圖書館館長 /图书馆馆长 (túshūguǎn guǎnzhǎng)the manager of a library
- 圖書管理員 /图书管理员 (túshū guǎnlǐyuán)one who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- 圖書館員 /图书馆员 (túshūguǎnyuán)one who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- 管理員 /管理员 (guǎnlǐyuán)a person who processes and organizes information
Czech knihovník, knihovnice
- knihovníkthe manager of a library
- knihovnicethe manager of a library
- knihovníkone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- knihovniceone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- knihovníka person who processes and organizes information
- knihovnicea person who processes and organizes information
Danish bibliotekar, bibliotekar
- bibliotekarthe manager of a library
- bibliotekarone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
Dutch bibliothecaris, bibliothecaresse
- bibliothecaristhe manager of a library
- bibliothecaressethe manager of a library
- bibliotheekbeheerderthe manager of a library
Esperanto bibliotekisto
- bibliotekistoone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
Estonian raamatukoguhoidja
- raamatukoguhoidjathe manager of a library
Finnish kirjastonhoitaja, kirjastonjohtaja
- kirjastonhoitajathe manager of a library
- kirjastonjohtajathe manager of a library
- kirjastonhoitajaone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- informaatikkoa person who processes and organizes information
French bibliothécaire, bibliothécaire
- bibliothécairethe manager of a library
- bibliothécaireone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- archivistea person who processes and organizes information
German Bibliothekar, Bibliothekarin
- Bibliothekarthe manager of a library
- Bibliothekarinthe manager of a library
- Bibliothekarone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- Bibliothekarinone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- Archivara person who processes and organizes information
- Archivarina person who processes and organizes information
Greek βιβλιοθηκάριος, βιβλιοθηκονόμος
- βιβλιοθηκάριος (vivliothikários)the manager of a library
- βιβλιοθηκονόμος (vivliothikonómos)the manager of a library
- βιβλιοθηκάριος (vivliothikários)one who cares for the publications etc. in a library
Hebrew סַפְרָן, ספרנית
- סַפְרָן (safrán)the manager of a library
- ספרנית (safranít)the manager of a library
Hindi पुस्तकाध्यक्ष, लाइब्रेरियन
- पुस्तकाध्यक्ष (pustakādhyakṣ)the manager of a library
- लाइब्रेरियन (lāibreriyan)the manager of a library
- पुस्तकालयाध्यक्ष (pustakālyādhyakṣ)the manager of a library
Hungarian könyvtáros, könyvtárosnő
- könyvtárosthe manager of a library
- könyvtárosnőthe manager of a library
- könyvtárosone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
Icelandic bókasafnsfræðingur, bókavörður
- bókasafnsfræðingurthe manager of a library
- bókavörðurthe manager of a library
Indonesian pustakawan, pustakawan
- pustakawanthe manager of a library
- pustakawanone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- pustakawatione who cares for the publications etc. in a library
Irish leabharlannaí
- leabharlannaíone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
Italian bibliotecario, bibliotecaria
- bibliotecariothe manager of a library
- bibliotecariathe manager of a library
Japanese 司書, 司書
- 司書 (shisho)the manager of a library
- 司書 (shisho)one who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- 図書館員 (toshokan'in)one who cares for the publications etc. in a library
Korean 사서, 도서관원
- 사서 (saseo)one who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- 도서관원 (doseogwanwon)one who cares for the publications etc. in a library
Latvian bibliotekārs
- bibliotekārsthe manager of a library
Lithuanian bibliotekininkas, bibliotekininkė
- bibliotekininkasthe manager of a library
- bibliotekininkėthe manager of a library
Malay pustakawan, pustakawan
- pustakawanthe manager of a library
- pustakawanone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
Māori kaitiaki pukapuka
- kaitiaki pukapukaone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
Norwegian Bokmål bibliotekar, bibliotekar
- bibliotekarthe manager of a library
- bibliotekarone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
Persian کتابدار, کتابدار
- کتابدار (ketâbdâr)the manager of a library
- کتابدار (ketâbdâr)one who cares for the publications etc. in a library
Polish bibliotekarz, bibliotekarka
- bibliotekarzthe manager of a library
- bibliotekarkathe manager of a library
- bibliotekarzone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- bibliotekarkaone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- bibliotekarza person who processes and organizes information
- bibliotekarkaa person who processes and organizes information
Portuguese bibliotecário, bibliotecário
- bibliotecáriothe manager of a library
- bibliotecárioone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- arquivistaa person who processes and organizes information
Punjabi ਲਾਇਬ੍ਰੇਰੀਅਨ, ਲਾਇਬ੍ਰੇਰੀਅਨ
- ਲਾਇਬ੍ਰੇਰੀਅਨ (lāibrerīana)the manager of a library
- ਲਾਇਬ੍ਰੇਰੀਅਨ (lāibrerīana)one who cares for the publications etc. in a library
Romanian bibliotecar, bibliotecară
- bibliotecarthe manager of a library
- bibliotecarăthe manager of a library
- bibliotecarone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- bibliotecarăone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- arhivista person who processes and organizes information
- arhivistăa person who processes and organizes information
Russian библиоте́карь, библиоте́карша
- библиоте́карь (bibliotékarʹ)the manager of a library
- библиоте́карша (bibliotékarša)the manager of a library
- библиоте́карь (bibliotékarʹ)one who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- библиоте́карша (bibliotékarša)one who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- библиоте́карь (bibliotékarʹ)a person who processes and organizes information
- библиоте́карша (bibliotékarša)a person who processes and organizes information
Scottish Gaelic leabharlannaiche
- leabharlannaicheone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
Slovak knihovník, knihovníčka
- knihovníkthe manager of a library
- knihovníčkathe manager of a library
- bibliotekárthe manager of a library
- bibliotekárkathe manager of a library
- knihovníkone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- knihovníčkaone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- bibliotekárone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- bibliotekárkaone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- knihovníka person who processes and organizes information
- knihovníčkaa person who processes and organizes information
- bibliotekára person who processes and organizes information
- bibliotekárkaa person who processes and organizes information
Spanish bibliotecario
- bibliotecariothe manager of a library
Swahili mkutubi, mkutubi
- mkutubithe manager of a library
- mkutubione who cares for the publications etc. in a library
Swedish bibliotekarie
- bibliotekariethe manager of a library
Tagalog tagaingat-aklatan
- tagaingat-aklatanthe manager of a library
Thai บรรณารักษ์
- บรรณารักษ์ (ban-naa-rák)the manager of a library
Turkish kütüphaneci, bibliyotekçi
- kütüphanecithe manager of a library
- bibliyotekçithe manager of a library
- kütüphanecione who cares for the publications etc. in a library
Ukrainian бібліоте́кар, бібліоте́карка
- бібліоте́кар (bibliotékar)the manager of a library
- бібліоте́карка (bibliotékarka)the manager of a library
- бібліоте́кар (bibliotékar)one who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- бібліоте́карка (bibliotékarka)one who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- бібліоте́кар (bibliotékar)a person who processes and organizes information
- бібліоте́карка (bibliotékarka)a person who processes and organizes information
Vietnamese thủ thư
- thủ thưthe manager of a library
Welsh llyfrgellydd, llyfrgellydd
- llyfrgellyddthe manager of a library
- llyfrgellyddone who cares for the publications etc. in a library
Yiddish ביבליאָטעקער, ביבליאָטעקעראין
- ביבליאָטעקער (biblyoteker)one who cares for the publications etc. in a library
- ביבליאָטעקעראין (biblyotekerin)one who cares for the publications etc. in a library
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with librarian
BulgarianvegetarianhumanitarianpresbyterianovarianlibertarianMarianunitarianDariensectarianagrariantotalitarianAryanvaleriancontrarianaquarianproletarianSumeriancaesareanarionDariantrinitarianBolivariancommunitarian
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
librarian. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/librarian
MLA
“librarian.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/librarian. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “librarian,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/librarian.
Source: librarian on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.