Etymologically
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bibliotheca

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [bɪ.bli.ɔˈtʰeː.ka][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [bi.bli.oˈtɛː.ka][1]

Forms

bibliothēca f (genitive bibliothēcae); first declension[1] Cicero once uses the Greek form bibliothēcē, accusative bibliothēcēn.[2][3] The spelling bybliothēca is frequent in inscriptions of the classical period and in manuscripts, though bibli- prevails in inscriptions.[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek βιβλιοθήκη (bibliothḗkē, “library”).[2][5][1] The Greek word is a compound of βιβλίον (biblíon, “small book”) and θήκη (thḗkē, “case, repository”);[1][6] βίβλος (bíblos, “papyrus bark; book”) is named after the Phoenician city of Byblos, the main market for papyrus.[6] Isidore of Seville already explained the name from the Greek words for “book” and “repository”.[7][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cicero, both for the room where books are kept, in which he shuts himself up or in which he saw Cato sitting, and for a collection of books, as when he uses some books from the library of Lucullus.[8][6]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it meant both a library room and a collection of books, as in Greek.[3][2] Georges also records the sense of a bookcase or set of shelves, in the jurists and Pliny the Younger.[8] Rome's first public library was founded by Asinius Pollio, and others followed, such as those in the temple of Peace and the temple of Trajan, which Gellius names.[2][3] The person in charge of a library was called a bibliothēcā.[2][8]

In Medieval Latin it remained the place where writings were kept, sometimes an archive, and the collection itself.[9][10] It was also used of the Scriptures, the books of both Testaments bound as one volume, a sense found in Aldhelm.[11][9][10] Alcuin notes that the volume properly called a pandect was by many called bibliothēca.[10] British writers also used it for a book cover.[10]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for a library room and for a collection of books.[8][6]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder records the library founded by Asinius Pollio as the first public library at Rome.[2][6]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius mentions the libraries of the temple of Trajan and of the temple of Peace.[2][6]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains the name as a place where books are stored.[7][6]
  • 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it of the Scriptures.[10][6]
  • 1st third of the 8th century – Bede writes of a large and very noble library being assembled.[10][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A library, a collection of books or the room or building that holds it.[2][3]
  2. A bookcase or set of shelves for books.[8]
  3. a bibliothēcā, the person in charge of a library, a librarian.[2][8]
  4. (Medieval Latin) An archive or place where documents are kept.[9]
  5. (Medieval Latin) The Bible, the Scriptures.[11][9][10]
  6. (Medieval Latin) A book cover.[10]
  • English bibliotheca

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  8. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  9. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  11. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill