bible

See also: Bible

English

Etymology

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 (> English writs) for "the Scriptures".

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈbaɪbəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪbəl

Noun

bible (plural bibles)

1. An exemplar of the Bible.
2. A comprehensive manual that describes something. (e.g., handyman’s bible).
   • 1995, Gary Wolf, "The Curse of Xanadu", Wired Magazine

     Computer Lib was written as a popular primer, but its most profound effect was on computer programmers, who needed little persuasion about the value of computers. Its tone – energetic, optimistic, inexhaustible, confused – matched theirs exactly. Having set out to appeal to the general public, Nelson managed to publish an insider's bible and highly intimate guide to hacker culture.

3. (nautical) Synonym of holystone: a piece of sandstone used for scouring wooden decks on ships.
4. (at certain US universities) A compilation of problems and solutions from previous years of a given course, used by some students to cheat on tests or assignments.
   • 1965, Matt Fichtenbaum and Dan Murphy, “The Institute Screw” in The Broadside of Boston, vol. III, No. 22:

     My friend’s a genius, he will give me problems one through nine.
     The bible of a sophomore will have the needed lines.

5. Omasum, the third compartment of the stomach of ruminants

   Synonyms: psalterium, omasum, manyplies, fardel

Related terms

• biblical

Translations

comprehensive manual

• Afrikaans: bybel
• Albanian: Bibël f
• Azerbaijani: bible
• Bulgarian: библия (bg) (biblija)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 圣经 (zh) (shèngjīng)

• Czech: bible (cs) f
• Dutch: bijbel (nl)
• Esperanto: Biblio
• Estonian: piibel (et)
• Finnish: raamattu (fi)
• French: Bible (fr) f
• German: Bibel (de) f
• Greek: βίβλος (el) f (vívlos), βύβλος (el) (vývlos)
• Hungarian: biblia (hu), kézikönyv (hu)
• Ido: biblo (io)
• Indonesian: Alkitab (id)

• Interlingua: biblia
• Irish: bíobla f
• Japanese: 虎の巻 (tora no maki)
• Korean: 성경 (ko) (seonggyeong), 성서 (ko) (seongseo)
• Latvian: Bībele f
• Lithuanian: Biblija (lt) f
• Malay: Alkitab
• Polish: Biblia (pl) f
• Portuguese: Bíblia (pt) f
• Romanian: Biblie (ro) f
• Russian: би́блия (ru) f (bíblija)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Библија f, Свето Писмо n

  Roman: Biblija (sh) f, Sveto Pismo n

• Spanish: biblia (es) f
• Swedish: bibel (sv) c
• Thai: คัมภีร์ไบเบิล (Khạmp̣hīr̒ bịbeil)
• Turkish: İncil (tr)
• Welsh: Beibl (cy)

omasum — see omasum

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Czech

Proper noun

bible f

1. Bible

Declension

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	bible	bible
genitive	bible	biblí
dative	bibli	biblím
accusative	bibli	bible
vocative	bible	bible
locative	bibli	biblích
instrumental	biblí	biblemi

Derived terms

• biblický
• biblista

Further reading

• bible in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• bible in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bibl/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

bible f (plural bibles)

1. bible (comprehensive text)

Derived terms

• biblique
• bibliste

Further reading

• “bible” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Middle English

Alternative forms

• Bible, bibel, bibile, byble, bybill, bibelle, bybulle, bibill

Etymology

From Old French bible, from Medieval Latin biblia, from biblia), from Ancient Greek βιβλία (biblía).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbiːbəl/

Proper noun

bible

1. The Bible (Christian holy book); a copy of the Bible.
2. (rare) The Koran (Muslim holy book).

Descendants

• English: Bible
• Scots: Bible

References

• “bīble (n.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-06-27.

Noun

bible

1. Any book that is of extensive length.
2. A compendium, collection, or storehouse of books.

Descendants

• English: bible
• Scots: bible

References

• “bīble (n.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-06-27.