paperback

Etymology

It is formed from English paper + back.^[2][3][4][5] The OED compares the earlier adjective paperbound.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A book bound in stiff paper or flexible card: 1843, in the Southern Literary Messenger,^[2][6] although Etymonline dates the noun to 1899^[3] and Dictionary.com to 1895–1900.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The adjective, of a book bound in this way, is recorded from 1884,^[2] and since 1921 also in the sense "having the style or character of a paperback".^[2] The verb to paperback, to publish in a paperback edition, dates from 1960.^[2] The word stands in contrast to hardback.^[2][7]

Timeline

• 1843 – a book with a paper cover.^[2][6]
• 1884 – adjective, of a book, bound in paper covers.^[2]
• 1921 – adjective, in the style of a paperback.^[2]
• 1960 – verb, to publish in paperback.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A book with covers of flexible card or stiff paper, usually sold more cheaply than a hardback, also in the phrase in paperback, in such an edition: The novel came out in paperback a year later.^[7][2][6]

Adjective

1. Bound in flexible covers; of or relating to paperbacks: paperback thrillers.^[7][6][2]

Verb

1. To publish in a paperback edition.^[7][2]

Word family

• trade paperback

Related words

• hardback
• paperbound
• softcover

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins