bible

Pronunciation: /ˈbaɪbəl/

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B1 — Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun the sacred writings of the Christian religions
  2. noun a book regarded as authoritative in its field

Etymology

From Middle English bible, from Middle Latin biblia (“book”) (misinterpreted as a feminine from earlier Latin neuter plural biblia (“books”)), from Ancient Greek βιβλία (biblía, “books”), plural of βιβλίον (biblíon, “small book”), originally a diminutive of βίβλος (bíblos, “book”), from βύβλος (búblos, “papyrus”) (from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported this writing material). Old English used biblioþēce (from βιβλιοθήκη) and ġewritu (> English writs) for "the Scriptures".

In classic literature

Synonyms

Christian Bible, Book, Good Book, Holy Scripture, Holy Writ, Scripture, Word of God, Word

Semantic network

Broader (hypernyms)
sacred text
Narrower (hyponyms)
family bible

A single word — an entire dictionary opens.

Type a word, a sentence, a book title, or a link to an English article. WordNet and the Classics answer.

Try

A library of classics · a vault of words · instant etymology & meaning

Continue reading

Nice save! Solidify it with review →