library English · revision 2795

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1374, Chaucer|origins=la liber}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈlaɪ.brər.i/, US /ˈlaɪ.brer.i/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|librarye]],^(Barnhart 1988) [[bor|xno|librarie]], Old French librairie “collection of books; bookseller's shop”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and directly from [[la|librārium|t=chest for books]] and [[m|la|librāria|t=bookseller's shop; in Medieval Latin, a library]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) noun uses of [[m|la|librārius|t=concerning books]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[m|la|liber|t=book, paper; the inner bark of a tree]] (genitive librī).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Latin liber, from Proto-Italic *lufro-, first meant the inner bark of trees, used for writing,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and is perhaps from [[ine-pro|*leub(h)-|t=to strip, peel]], the root of [[leaf]];^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) de Vaan accepts this “for want of a better alternative”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A place set apart to hold books, a room in a house: about 1374, in Chaucer's translation of Boethius,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) the late 14th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) A collection of books is from before 1382, in the Wycliffe Bible.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A building or set of rooms with a collection of books for public use is from about 1449.^(OED 1989) A ''circulating library'', a commercial lending library, is from 1835 in the OED,^(OED 1989) and a theatre-ticket agency was also called a library (1827).^(OED 1989) Publishers used ''library'' in the titles of uniform series of books from 1692.^(OED 1989) In most Romance languages the equivalent word survives only in the sense “bookshop”,^(Etymonline) as in modern French librairie.^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) Collections of recordings, films and computer programs or routines are later extensions.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) ''Librarian'' meant a scribe in the 17th century and the keeper of a library in the 18th.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1374 – a room for books.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1382 – a collection of books.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1449 – a public library.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1692 – a publisher's series.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1835 – a circulating library.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A building or room where books, [[periodical|alt=periodicals]], recordings and the like are kept for reading, reference or lending.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A collection of books or other materials, especially one systematically arranged.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A series of books issued by a publisher in a uniform style.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(computing)'' A collection of standard programs or [[subroutine|alt=subroutines]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[interlibrary]]

+ * [[librarian]]

+ * [[circulating library]]

+ * [[film library]]

+ * [[lending library]]

+ * [[library paste]]

+ * [[library science]]

+ * [[library card]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[libel]]

+ * [[leaf]]

+ * [[libretto]]

+ * [[liber]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}