bibliophage

American  

[bib-lee-uh-feyj] / ˈbɪb li əˌfeɪdʒ /

noun

1. an ardent reader; a bookworm.

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Usage

What does bibliophage mean? A bibliophage is a person who reads all the time; a bookworm. Bibliophage is a very rarely used word, unlike the commonly used bookworm. But with their extensive vocabularies, bibliophages probably know it. Example: Michelle is a real bibliophage—she spends every second of her free time reading books.

Other Word Forms

• bibliophagic adjective
• bibliophagous adjective

Etymology

Origin of bibliophage

biblio- + -phage

Explanation

If you ever snuck a book and a flashlight into bed to read under the covers past bedtime, or got scolded for reading a book when you should have been doing your chores, you might be a bibliophage: an avid reader. The word bibliophage is composed of two Greek elements: biblio, meaning "book," and the suffix -phage, "one that eats." A bibliophage is quite literally a book-eater, but the word is more frequently used metaphorically. Someone who reads books voraciously, as though they're hungry for them or need them to survive, could be described as a bibliophage, or more commonly, as a "bookworm."