Bible

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See also: bible

English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English bible, from Middle Latin biblia (“book”) (misinterpreted as a feminine from earlier Latin neuter plural biblia (“books”)), from Ancient Greek βιβλία (biblía, “books”), plural of βιβλίον (biblíon, “small book”), originally a diminutive of βίβλος (bíblos, “book”), from βύβλος (búblos, “papyrus”) (from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported this writing material).

Old English used biblioþēce (from βιβλιοθήκη) and ġewritu (whence English writs) for "the Scriptures".

Pronunciation[edit]

Proper noun[edit]

Bible (plural Bibles)

an open Bible
  1. The main religious text in Christianity.
    In my religion class we learn about the Bible, as well as religious texts of other religions.
    • 2009, Across the Spectrum: Understanding Issues in Evangelical Theology, page 16:
      Many non-Christians regard portions of the Bible as “inspiring,” but they do not believe the Bible was “inspired by God” […]
  2. The Jewish holy book that was largely incorporated into the Christian Bible.
    She's Jewish, but she doesn't read the Bible because she's not religious.
  3. The analogous holy book of another religion.
Derived terms[edit]
Synonyms[edit]
Coordinate terms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Terms derived from "Bible"
Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

Bible (plural Bibles)

  1. A specific version, edition, translation, or copy of one of the above-mentioned texts.
Synonyms[edit]
  • (specific version or copy): bible

See also[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From a Middle English diminutive of the given name Isabel.

Proper noun[edit]

Bible

  1. A matronymic surname​.

Middle French[edit]

Proper noun[edit]

Bible f

  1. The Bible (The Christian holy book; the Old and New Testaments)
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