bibliophile
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
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.
Daunt is a bibliophile and owns a small chain of eponymous independent bookstores in England.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 10, 2026
Best known for his diaries, the tailor's son was also a bibliophile who bequeathed his large library to the University of Cambridge's Magdalene College.
From BBC • Jul. 22, 2024
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
Carmen grew up devouring her opera-loving, bibliophile father’s books — he had a capacious library of the classics — and “in a Catholic bubble,” she told The Financial Times in 2020.
From New York Times • Oct. 29, 2022
Beckford is for most people only the author of ‘Vathek’; it is only the bibliophile who troubles himself about ‘Azemia’ or ‘The Elegant Enthusiast.’
From By-ways in Book-land Short Essays on Literary Subjects by Adams, William Davenport
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.
