bibliophile
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
- bibliophilic adjective
- bibliophilism noun
- bibliophilistic adjective
- bibliophily noun
Etymology
Origin of bibliophile
Explanation
You can call a book lover a bibliophile. If you find it impossible to leave a book store without buying at least one book, you might be a bibliophile. A bibliophile usually has a huge collection of books and loves nothing more than browsing in a used book shop or a library. A love of books or a deep knowledge about them makes a person a bibliophile. The earliest use of the word bibliophile was in 1820s France, and it came from the Greek prefix biblio, or "book," and the word philos, or "friend." If you consider books to be your true friends, you are definitely a bibliophile.
Vocabulary lists containing bibliophile
All You Need is Love: Amor and Phil
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ASVAB Word Knowledge
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Book Words for Book Worms
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He was a Christian Zionist and bibliophile, who by all accounts knew the land of Israel better than many of the Jews who lived there.
From Salon • Oct. 28, 2023
Through the late 1940s and mid-50s, this world-famous poet shared a suite of rooms with the witty, wheelchair-bound bibliophile John Hayward.
From Washington Post • Sep. 28, 2022
Like his father, the bibliophile would not survive the disaster.
From BBC • Apr. 14, 2022
Like many wayfaring hopefuls, Adam Clark Vroman, an ex-railroad worker, bibliophile and photographer, was lured to California by its sense of possibility.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2022
Yet I have one weakness in common with the bibliophile; I have a liking for certain books which I have neither time nor inclination to read.
From The Gentle Reader by Crothers, Samuel McChord
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
