bibliovore

English

Etymology

From biblio- (“book”) +‎ -vore (“consumer”).

Noun

bibliovore (plural bibliovores)

1. (uncommon) Someone or something that consumes books. [from 1967]

   Synonym: bibliophage

   • 1967 November 17, Roz Davis, “‘Pre-enrollment Held’: Receipts to guard against library errors”, in Brian Weiss, editor, UCLA Daily Bruin, volume LXXII, number 36, Los Angeles, Calif.: Communications Board of the Associated Students of UCLA, →ISSN, page 4, column 3:

     The book probably was at the bottom of a pile of 14 library books, accidentally got picked up and dumped in the bibliovore labeled “Return Books Here.” […] [Y]ou meekly approach the library to find out what they would do with a book that wasn’t theirs. […] [I]f the marking is on the inside, the marking that has your name or the name of the department on it, it disappears.

   • 1993, Chris Sauer, “The Case Study Approach”, in Why Information Systems Fail: A Case Study Approach (Information Systems Series), Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire: Alfred Waller Limited, →ISBN, section 2 (Research Method for the Mandata Study), subsection 3 (The research process), page 140:

     Virtually everything requested was provided except for the odd file that had been misindexed, mislaid, or consumed by the silverfish and other bibliovores that inhabit dark and dusty shelves.

   • 2002, Paul Di Filippo, “The Reluctant Book”, in Babylon Sisters and Other Posthumans, Canton, Oh.: Prime Books, →ISBN, pages 222 and 228:

     Ahem, my fellow books. […] I fully realize that since the untimely mortal passage of our dear librarian, all of us have been anxious about what the future might hold for us. Some of us might even have thought of following the Catalogue into the outer world, where only dangers and hardships await—bibliovores such as the gnoles and gnurrs and zipper-nut squirrels. […] Outside is probably miles and miles of forest just teeming with bibliovores.

   • 2002 summer, Gregory Whitehead, “Hungry for God”, in Cabinet‎^[1], number 7, Brooklyn, N.Y.: Immaterial Incorporated, →ISSN, archived from the original on 2020-09-27, page 65, column 1:

     “[…] Mikie has her pretty well hooked, convinced her that bibliovoria was the only way to kill the bugs, that her own body offered a more secure environment for her beloved manuscripts than the infested stacks at the Spence. […]” Whether from the image of Mary Dilthey eating book with Michael Monihan, or from contemplating what manner of colonoscopy would now be necessary to enjoy the riches of the Spence, or from the smell of Rachel’s pie, a wave of nausea was beginning to build deep in my soul, so I paid our tab, bid farewell to the two bibliovores, and returned to Sculley’s flat.

   • 2005, Monty Harper, “The Great Green Squishy Mean Bibliovore”, in The Great Green Squishy Mean Concert CD, Stillwater, Okla.: Monty Harper Productions, →ISBN, column 3:

     “[…] You’d better feed me books or you will hear me roar! I’m a great green squishy mean bibliovore.” They fed him all the reference books they never used, but the monster still was hungry and escaped. He broke into an empty elementary school where he learned that spelling books cause belly aches.

   • 2015, Gareth Lewis, “Cage of Thoughts”, in Tales of the Thief-City:

     The Librarian's a bibliovore. She eats the written word, absorbing and storing them within her, then accessing them at will. […] Much of what she makes goes into acquiring rare books, which she devours so she's the sole repository of their information, making it that much more valuable.

   • 2023, Meg Clothier, “The Ink-Crate”, in The Book of Eve, London: Wildfire, Headline Publishing Group, →ISBN:

     I made to go, telling her how busy I had been, how meticulously I had assessed our collection for signs of damp or the predations of bibliovores, how particularly pleased I was to have spotted some small indications of silverfish in the old chest where we kept scraps of parchment.

2. (uncommon, figurative) Synonym of bookworm (“avid book reader”) [from late 20th c.]
   • 1980 October 3, “My Favorite Bookstore”, in The Vancouver Sun, volume 93, number 383, Vancouver, B.C., →ISSN, page 6L, column 1:

     Leisure asked a few Vancouver Sun writers and editors — arguably the city’s most voracious group of bibliovores — about their favorite browsing spots.

   • 1993, John W. Bagnole, “Henry Miller as a Dead Duck: (or) Mixing Metaphors on a Journey out of the Twentieth Century”, in Craig Peter Standish, editor, Henry Miller: A Book of Tributes, 1931-1994, Orlando, Fla.: Standish Books, published 1994, →ISBN, page 567:

     So moved was I by the infectious liberating effect of this work (and not even Miller’s best I was to learn!) that I immediately purchased more of Miller’s books (paperbacks of course) and scarfed them down with equal relish. Man, the bibliovore.

   • 2008, Simeon J. Maslin, ...and turn it again: Theme & Sacred Variations, Xlibris, →ISBN, page 126:

     It will come as no surprise that I grew up loving everything about “our” ocean. It wasn’t until a few years later that I could handle Moby Dick; but Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, and particularly Richard Henry Dana’s Two Years Before the Mast were the favorite literary fare of this bibliovore in knee pants.

   • 2018, Maria Vale, “About the Author”, in The Last Wolf, Sourcebooks, →ISBN:

     Maria Vale is a logophile and a bibliovore and a worrier about the world.

French

Etymology

From biblio- +‎ -vore.

Adjective

bibliovore (plural bibliovores)

1. loving books, bibliophilic
   • 1877, Revue du Lyonnais: Recueil Historique et Littéraire, page 419:

     « Flagrante delicto. » Scènes de rats bibliovores.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1888, Le Livre: Revue du Monde Littéraire, page 98:

     Ces sensations me semblent assez humaines pour que je m’aventure à en faire part à des lecteurs bibliophiles ou bibliovores, qui pensent que rien de ce qui touche le livre ne doit leur être étranger.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1997, Raymonde Lamothe, chapter 4, in L’ange tatoué: Roman (Collection «Roman»), Montreal, Que.: VLB éditeur, →ISBN, page 29:

     J’émis un sifflement admiratif tout en me disant que si ses livres avaient eu autant de succès je serais sûrement tombé dessus en bouquinant pour mon neveu bibliovore.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Noun

bibliovore m or f by sense (plural bibliovores)

1. bookworm
   • 1987, La lecture littéraire: actes du colloque tenu à Reims du 14 au 16 juin 1984, →ISBN, page 115:

     Le lecteur curieux est celui qui dévore le livre, terme qui signifie bien l’ingestion et la destruction de l’objet. Le bibliovore ne retient rien.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2003, Jean-Jacques Tur, Ma nostAlgérie.fr, →ISBN, page 141:

     Un peu plus loin, je m’arrête devant la vitrine de la librairie-papeterie Alzina et j’y passe un long moment : depuis que je sais lire et écrire, je suis un "bibliovore" !

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2010, Ivan Roussin, “France-Italie: 2000”, in Fils à papa, Éditions du Toucan, →ISBN:

     Ma femme, bibliovore, lisait dans un hamac, et j’organisais des matches endiablés de beach soccer avec des Mexicains.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Synonyms

• bibliophage
• bibliophile
• librophage, livrophage
• librophile, livrophile
• librovore, livrovore
• papivore
• rat de bibliothèque