book

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bʊk/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English bok, inherited from Old English bōc (“writing tablet, written document”),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *bōks,^[3][5] whose cognates include Old Frisian bōk, Old Saxon bōk, Old High German buoh (modern German Buch) and Old Norse bók, and Gothic has bōka “letter of the alphabet”.^[3][6][7] It is usually connected with the Germanic word for beech, on the idea that runes were carved on beechwood tablets,^{[2][3][4][6][5]} but Etymonline notes phonetic difficulties with this,^[2] and RHWU says no relation to beech is known.^[8] The Latin word for book, liber, the source of library, likewise first meant the inner bark of a tree.^[4][2] The verb is bōcian (“to grant by charter”), from the noun.^[2][3][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

A writing tablet, a written document, and collectively writings: Old English bōc, about 725, in a translation of the Book of Daniel.^[3][2] It was also used of charters granting land.^[10][2]

Semantic evolution

By early Middle English the sense had narrowed to a long written work of many pages bound together, and to a literary composition of any length.^[2] A main division of a larger work is a book from about 1200.^[2] The spelling book appears in Chaucer, about 1375.^[3] A play's script is a book from 1592,^[11] the libretto of an opera from 1768,^[2] and a record of bets from 1812,^[2] hence the bookmaker, who “makes a book” of bets.^[12] In the 19th century book could mean a magazine, and in the 20th a telephone directory.^[2] The total of criminal charges against someone is the book from 1926, hence throw the book at (1932).^[2] The verb meant “to grant land by charter” in Old English (966), “to enter in a record” from about 1200,^[3][2] “to reserve a seat or issue a railway ticket” from 1841, and “to engage a performer” from 1872.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 725 – Old English bōc.^[3]
• 966 – verb bōcian, to grant by charter.^[3]
• c. 1200 – a division of a larger work; verb, to record.^[2][3]
• c. 1375 – the spelling book (Chaucer).^[3]
• 1592 – the script of a play.^[11]
• 1768 – a libretto.^[2]
• 1812 – a betting book.^[2]
• 1841 – verb, to reserve a seat.^[2]
• 1872 – verb, to engage a performer.^[2]
• 1932 – throw the book at.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A set of written, printed or blank pages fastened along one side between covers.
2. A written or printed literary work.
3. A main division of a longer work.
4. A ledger or record of accounts, and (plural) business records.
5. The libretto of an opera or the script of a play.
6. A record of bets.

Verb

1. To enter in a book or list; to register.
2. To record charges against (a suspect).
3. To arrange for in advance; to reserve.
4. To engage (a performer).

Word family

• booker
• bookful
• bookable
• bookless
• booklike
• booking
• double-book
• overbook

Related words

• beech
• booklet
• bookish
• bookmaker
• library

Usage notes

The AHD groups the verb with bespeak, engage and reserve, all meaning to have something set aside in advance for one's use.^[13]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
9. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
12. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin