Etymologically
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bibliography

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Pronunciation

  • /bɪbliˈɒɡɹəfi/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin bibliographia (“writing of books; description of books”), recorded in Latin from 1552,[2][3] or directly from Ancient Greek βιβλιογραφία (bibliographía, “the writing of books”),[2][4][5] from βιβλίον (biblíon, “book”) and -γραφία (-graphía, “writing”), from γράφω (gráphō, “to write”).[4][6][5] The French bibliographie, recorded in 1633, may have influenced it.[5][7][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The writing or copying of books: 1664, in J. Winter's Spicilegium; this sense was obsolete by 1678.[2] Etymonline also dates it to the 1670s,[4] Barnhart gives 1678 for a list of books,[5] and Merriam-Webster's Unabridged 1689.[7]

Semantic evolution

A book describing other books, their authors, printing and editions, is recorded from 1691, and the study of books as a discipline from 1715,[2] though Etymonline dates that sense to 1803 and Merriam-Webster to 1802.[4][3] The list of publications by one author or printer, or on one subject, appears in 1775,[2] or by 1814 according to Etymonline,[4] and the list of sources at the end of a scholarly work in 1878.[2] Bibliographer is older than bibliography itself, from 1656.[5]

Timeline

  • 1656 – bibliographer.[5]
  • 1664 – the writing of books (obsolete).[2]
  • 1691 – a book describing books.[2]
  • 1715 – the study of books.[2]
  • 1775 – a list of publications on a subject or by an author.[2]
  • 1878 – a list of the sources of a scholarly work.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A list of books and articles on a particular subject.
  2. A list of the sources an author used or consulted, usually printed at the end of a work.
  3. A list of the works of one author or publisher.
  4. The study and description of books as physical objects: their authorship, editions, dates and typography.

Word family

  • bibliographical
  • bibliographically
  • bibliographer
  • bio-bibliography

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster