Meanings
plural reference books
- A book providing factual information.
The Red Book is the standard reference book for those naming inorganic chemical compounds.
Synonyms: sourcebook
- libraryA book that can be consulted in the library but cannot be borrowed.
I wanted to take out the encyclopedia, but the librarian said it was a reference book.
Synonyms: book of reference
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA book providing factual information.
nounA book that can be consulted in the library but cannot be borrowed.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna book to which you can refer for authoritative facts
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Arabic كِتَاب مَرْجِعِيّ
- كِتَاب مَرْجِعِيّ (kitāb marjiʕiyy)book providing factual information
Bulgarian спра́вочник
- спра́вочник (správočnik)book providing factual information
Chinese Mandarin 參考書 /参考书, 工具書 /工具书
- 參考書 /参考书 (cānkǎoshū)book providing factual information
- 工具書 /工具书 (gōngjùshū)book providing factual information
- 參考書 /参考书 (cānkǎoshū)library: book that may not be borrowed
- 工具書 /工具书 (gōngjùshū)library: book that may not be borrowed
Dutch naslagwerk
- naslagwerkbook providing factual information
Estonian teatmeteos
- teatmeteosbook providing factual information
Finnish lähdeteos, käsikirjaston kirja
- lähdeteosbook providing factual information
- käsikirjaston kirjalibrary: book that may not be borrowed
French livre de référence
- livre de référencebook providing factual information
German Nachschlagewerk, Referenzbuch
- Nachschlagewerkbook providing factual information
- Referenzbuchbook providing factual information
- Präsenzbestandlibrary: book that may not be borrowed
Hungarian segédkönyv
- segédkönyvbook providing factual information
Japanese 参考書
- 参考書 (sankōsho)book providing factual information
Korean 참고서
- 참고서 (chamgoseo)book providing factual information
Māori pukatara
- pukatarabook providing factual information
Norwegian Bokmål referansebok, referansebok
- referansebokbook providing factual information
- referanseboklibrary: book that may not be borrowed
Portuguese livro de consulta, livro de consulta
- livro de consultabook providing factual information
- livro de consultalibrary: book that may not be borrowed
Russian спра́вочник
- спра́вочник (správočnik)book providing factual information
Scottish Gaelic leabhar-fiosrachaidh
- leabhar-fiosrachaidhbook providing factual information
Tagalog sangguniang aklat, sangguniang aklat
- sangguniang aklatbook providing factual information
- sangguniang aklatlibrary: book that may not be borrowed
Thai หนังสืออ้างอิง
- หนังสืออ้างอิง (nǎng-sʉ̌ʉ-âang-ing)book providing factual information
Ukrainian дові́дник
- дові́дник (dovídnyk)book providing factual information
Vietnamese sách hướng dẫn, sách chỉ dẫn
- sách hướng dẫnbook providing factual information
- sách chỉ dẫnbook providing factual information
Cite this entry
reference book. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reference%20book
“reference book.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reference%20book. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “reference book,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reference%20book.
Source: reference book on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.