Etymologically
Log in

textbook

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 21:49. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ˈtɛkst.bʊk/[1]

Etymology

It was formed from English text + book in English,[2][3][4][5] from text in the sense of an authoritative writing.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A book used as a standard work in studying a subject: 1726, in Alexander Bayne's Discourse on Scots law, in the revised OED;[2][6] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date this sense to 1779.[3][7] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1720–30.[5]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th century the word also meant a student's copy of a classical text, printed with wide spaces between the lines for the master's comments to be written in: Etymonline dates it to 1730 and the OED to 1728, in Chambers's Cyclopædia.[3][2][4] From 1833 a textbook could also be a selection of passages of Scripture arranged for daily reading or reference;[2][3] it was used rarely from 1862 for the printed words of an opera or play.[2] The attributive use, "typical, exemplary", as in a textbook case, is recorded from 1860 in the OED, at first often disparaging;[2] Merriam-Webster dates it to 1905 and Etymonline to 1916.[7][3]

Timeline

  • 1726 – a standard book for the study of a subject.[2]
  • 1728 – (obsolete) a student's interleaved copy of a classical text.[2]
  • 1833 – a book of selected Bible passages.[2]
  • 1860 – adjective, typical, exemplary.[2]
  • 1862 – the words of an opera or play.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A book that sets out the principles of a subject in a systematic way, used in studying it, especially in schools and colleges: a chemistry textbook.
  2. (historical) A book of selected passages of the Bible, arranged for daily reading or reference.

Adjective

  1. Being a perfect or typical example of its kind; classic: The rescue was a textbook operation.

Word family

  • textbookish

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b 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. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster