library

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A place where books and other materials are kept for people to read or borrow.

   She went to the library to return her books.

2. 2
   noun

   A collection of books or other stored information.

   He has built up a large library of history books at home.

3. 3
   noun

   A collection of ready-made software code that programs can use.

   This library provides functions for drawing graphics on the screen.

From Middle English librarie, from Anglo-Norman librarie, from Old French librairie, from Latin librarium (“bookcase, chest for books”), from librarius (“concerning books”), from liber (“the inner bark of trees; paper, parchment, book”), probably derived from a Proto-Indo-European base *leub(ʰ)- (“to strip, to peel”). Displaced native Middle English bochous, bokhus (literally “book house”), from Old English bōchūs (compare bookhouse). Romance cognates often mean “bookshop” instead: French librairie, Italian libreria, Spanish librería, Romanian librărie and Portuguese livraria. This is a relati…

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