βιβλίον

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Attic corruption, possibly by assimilation, of Ancient Greek βυβλίον (bublíon).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /bi.blí.on/ → /βiˈβli.on/ → /viˈvli.on/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /bi.blí.on/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /biˈbli.on/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /βiˈβli.on/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /viˈvli.on/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /viˈvli.on/

Noun

βῐβλῐ́ον • (bĭblĭ́on) n (genitive βῐβλῐ́ου); second declension

1. Strip of papyrus
2. Small book, tablet, letter
3. Any book or writing

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ βῐβλῐ́ον; τοῦ βῐβλῐ́ου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ βῐβλῐ́ον tò bĭblĭ́on	τὼ βῐβλῐ́ω tṑ bĭblĭ́ō	τᾰ̀ βῐβλῐ́ᾰ tằ bĭblĭ́ă
Genitive	τοῦ βῐβλῐ́ου toû bĭblĭ́ou	τοῖν βῐβλῐ́οιν toîn bĭblĭ́oin	τῶν βῐβλῐ́ων tôn bĭblĭ́ōn
Dative	τῷ βῐβλῐ́ῳ tôi bĭblĭ́ōi	τοῖν βῐβλῐ́οιν toîn bĭblĭ́oin	τοῖς βῐβλῐ́οις toîs bĭblĭ́ois
Accusative	τὸ βῐβλῐ́ον tò bĭblĭ́on	τὼ βῐβλῐ́ω tṑ bĭblĭ́ō	τᾰ̀ βῐβλῐ́ᾰ tằ bĭblĭ́ă
Vocative	βῐβλῐ́ον bĭblĭ́on	βῐβλῐ́ω bĭblĭ́ō	βῐβλῐ́ᾰ bĭblĭ́ă
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• βῐβλῐογραφῐ́ᾱ (bĭblĭographĭ́ā)
• βῐβλῐογρᾰ́φος (bĭblĭogrắphos)
• βῐβλῐοκᾰ́πηλος (bĭblĭokắpēlos)
• βῐβλῐοπηγός (bĭblĭopēgós)
• βῐβλῐοπώλης (bĭblĭopṓlēs)
• βῐβλῐοφῠ́λᾰξ (bĭblĭophŭ́lăx)

Descendants

• Greek: βιβλίο (vivlío)
• Mariupol Greek: вивли́о (vivlío)
• → English: biblio-
• → Latin: Biblia, biblia (via plural)

Further reading

• “βιβλίον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “βιβλίον”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• βιβλίον in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• βιβλίον in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
• G975 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • book idem, page 89.