English
library
Library comes from Middle English librarie, from Anglo-Norman librarie, from Latin librārium ‘bookcase’, from liber ‘bark; book’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEliber‘inner bark; book’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElibrārius‘concerning books’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElibrārium‘bookcase’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400librairie
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400librarie
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500librarie‘library’
- Englishearliest quotation 1896library
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEliber‘inner bark; book’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElibrārius‘concerning books’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElibrārium‘bookcase’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400librairie
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400librarie
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500librarie‘library’
- Englishearliest quotation 1896library
Earliest quotation: 1896, Alfred Newton, A Dictionary of Birds: “A small library of books has been written on…”
The story
From Middle English librarie, from Anglo-Norman librarie, from Old French librairie, from Latin librarium (‘bookcase, chest for books’), from librarius (‘concerning books’), from liber (‘the inner bark of trees; paper, parchment, book’), probably derived from a Proto-Indo-European base *leub(ʰ)- (‘to strip, to peel’). Romance cognates often mean “bookshop” instead: French librairie, Italian libreria, Spanish librería, Romanian librărie and Portuguese livraria. This is a relatively recent innovation (16th century in French), which ended up displacing the earlier sense.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *lew- ‘to cut off’
pollution, lied, lute, 12 more
through Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- ‘to peel, cut off, harm’
love, left, leave, believe, belief, leaf, lodge, lobby, loft, lib, lob, libido, luft, lief, 17 more
through Proto-Italic *luβros ‘bark’
through Latin liber ‘the inner bark of trees’
format, liberal, liberty, libel, liberate, liber, libre, 13 more
Today it means
noun An institution which holds books and/or other forms of media for use by the public or qualified people often lending them out, as well as providing various other services for its users.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin liber / library