library

pronunciation

How to pronounce library in British English: UK [ˈlaɪbrəri] word uk audio image

How to pronounce library in American English: US [ˈlaɪbreri] word us audio image

Noun:

a room where books are kept
a collection of literary documents or records kept for reference or borrowing
a depository built to contain books and other materials for reading and study
(computing) a collection of standard programs and subroutines that are stored and available for immediate use
a building that houses a collection of books and other materials

Word Origin

library: library: [14] The Latin word for ‘book’ was liber. It is related to Russian lub ‘bark’ and Lithuanian luba ‘board’, and originally denoted ‘bark’, as used for writing on before the introduction of papyrus. From it was derived librāria ‘bookseller’s shop’, which Old French took over as librairie and passed on to English. The English word has only ever been used for a ‘place where books are kept’, or for a ‘collection of books’, but French librairie now exclusively means ‘bookseller’s shop’.Other English derivatives of Latin liber include libel [13] (from the diminutive form libellus ‘little book’; it originally denoted in English simply a ‘formal written claim by a plaintiff’, and did not take on its current connotations of ‘defamation’ until the 17th century) and libretto [18] (also literally a ‘little book’, from an Italian diminutive form).=> libel, libretto

library (n.): place for books, late 14c., from Anglo-French librarie, Old French librairie "collection of books" (14c.), noun use of adj. librarius "concerning books," from Latin librarium "chest for books," from liber (genitive libri) "book, paper, parchment," originally "the inner bark of trees," probably a derivative of PIE root *leub(h)- "to strip, to peel" (see leaf). The equivalent word in most Romance languages now means "bookseller's shop." Old English had bochord, literally "book hord."