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.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Library, recorded from late Middle English, ultimately derives from Latin liber, meaning “book.” The same Latin word, through its diminutive libellus, is also the source of libel.

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…

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary