book - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Proto-West Germanic *bōk

Old English bōc

Middle English bok

English book

A hard-cover book (etymology 1, noun sense 1)

From Middle English bok, book, from Old English bōc, from Proto-West Germanic *bōk, from Proto-Germanic *bōks. Bookmaker sense by clipping.

Cognates

Cognate with Scots beuk, buik, buke (“book”), Yola buke (“book”), North Frisian Bok, buk, bök (“book”), Saterland Frisian Bouk (“book”), West Frisian, Dutch boek (“book”), Alemannic German Buech (“book”), Bavarian Buach (“book”), Central Franconian Booch, Buch (“book”), German, Luxembourgish Buch (“book”), German Low German Book (“book”), Limburgish book, Bouk (“book”), Vilamovian büch (“book”), Yiddish בוך (bukh, “book”), Danish bog (“book”), Elfdalian buok (“book”), Faroese, Icelandic bók (“book”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish bok (“book”).

book (plural books)

  1. A collection of sheets of paper bound together to hinge at one edge, containing printed or written material, pictures, etc.
    • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 3, column 1:
      Knowing I lou'd my bookes, he furniſhd me / From mine owne Library, with volumes, that / I prize aboue my Dukedome.
    • 1962, Luis Borges, translated by James East Irby, The Library of Babel:
      I repeat: it suffices that a book be possible for it to exist. Only the impossible is excluded. For example: no book can be a ladder, although no doubt there are books which discuss and negate and demonstrate this possibility and others whose structure corresponds to that of a ladder.
    • 1983, Steve Horelick et al., Reading Rainbow:
      I can be anything.
      Take a look!
      It's in a book:
      A reading rainbow.
    • 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, page 51:
      Trefusis's quarters could be described in one word. Books. Books and books and books. And then, just when an observer might be lured into thinking that that must be it, more books... Trefusis himself was highly dismissive of them. ‘Waste of trees,’ he had once said. ‘Stupid, ugly, clumsy, heavy things. The sooner technology comes up with a reliable alternative the better... The world is so fond of saying that books should be “treated with respect”. But when are we told that words should be treated with respect?’
      She opened the book to page 37 and began to read aloud.
      He was frustrated because he couldn't find anything about dinosaurs in the book.
  2. A long work fit for publication, typically prose, such as a novel or textbook, and typically published as such a bound collection of sheets, but now sometimes electronically as an e-book.
    I have three copies of his first book.
    • 2022 December 6, Stephen Marche, quoting Sam Bankman-Fried, “The College Essay Is Dead”, in The Atlantic‎[1]:
      “I would never read a book,” he once told an interviewer. “I don’t want to say no book is ever worth reading, but I actually do believe something pretty close to that.”
    • 2025 July 19, Pacifik, “Freethinker”, in Wonderfool, performed by Pacifik:
      They read some books
      Sharing their moods
      They know everything
      Whatever it can mean
  3. A major division of a long work.
    Synonyms: tome, volume
    Genesis is the first book of the Bible.
    Many readers find the first book of A Tale of Two Cities to be confusing.
  4. (gambling) A record of betting (from the use of a notebook to record what each person has bet).
    I'm running a book on who is going to win the race.
  5. (informal) A bookmaker (a person who takes bets on sporting events and similar); bookie; turf accountant.
  6. A convenient collection, in a form resembling a book, of small paper items for individual use.
    Synonym: booklet
    a book of stamps
    a book of raffle tickets
  7. (theater) The script of a musical or opera.
    Synonym: libretto
    • 2010, David Baskerville, Tim Baskerville, Music Business Handbook and Career Guide, page 172:
      The guild helps ensure that the ownership and control of the music, lyrics, and book of a show remain in the hands of its authors and composers—not the producers.
  8. (usually in the plural) Records of the accounts of a business.
    Synonyms: account, record
  9. (law, colloquial) A book award, a recognition for receiving the highest grade in a class (traditionally an actual book, but recently more likely a letter or certificate acknowledging the achievement).
  10. (whist) Six tricks taken by one side.
  11. (poker slang) Four of a kind.[1]
  12. (sports) A document, held by the referee, of the incidents that happened in a game.
  13. (sports, by extension) A list of all players who have been booked (received a warning) in a game.
  1. (horse racing) The list of mares that a stallion will breed in a given season.
  2. (horse racing) A list of the races that a jockey is scheduled to ride in.
  3. (cartomancy) The twenty-sixth Lenormand card.
  4. (figurative) Any source of instruction.
  5. (with "the") The accumulated body of knowledge passed down among black pimps.
  1. (advertising, informal) A portfolio of one's previous work in the industry.
  1. (chess, uncountable) The sum of chess knowledge in the opening or endgame.
  1. (historical) A package of silk.

From Middle English booken, boken, from Old English bōcian, ġebōcian, from the noun (see above).

book (third-person singular simple present books, present participle booking, simple past and past participle booked)

  1. (transitive) To reserve (something) for future use.
    Synonym: reserve
    I want to book a hotel room for tomorrow night.
    I can book tickets for the concert next week.
    • 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68:
      I haven't booked, so I don't have a clue as to whether the service will be busy or not. Supposedly, reservations are compulsory, but I want to find out what would happen if you just turn up.
  2. (transitive) To write down, to register or record in a book or as in a book.
    Synonyms: make a note of, note down, record, write down
    They booked that message from the hill.
  3. (transitive) To add a name to the list of people who are participating in something.
    Synonyms: sign up, register, reserve, schedule, enroll
    I booked a flight to New York.
  4. (law enforcement, transitive) To record the name and other details of a suspected offender and the offence for later judicial action.
    The police booked him for driving too fast.
  5. (sports) To issue a caution to, usually a yellow card, or a red card if a yellow card has already been issued.
  6. (intransitive, slang) To travel very fast.
    Synonyms: bomb, hurtle, rocket, speed, shoot, whiz
    He was really booking until he passed the speed trap.
  7. To record bets as bookmaker.
  8. (transitive, law student slang) To receive the highest grade in a class.
    The top three students had a bet on which one was going to book their intellectual property class.
  9. (intransitive, slang) To move or leave, often hurriedly and abruptly.
    He was here earlier, but he booked.

From Middle English book, bok, from Old English bōc, from Proto-Germanic *bōk, first and third person singular indicative past tense of Proto-Germanic *bakaną (“to bake”).

book

  1. (UK dialectal, Northern England) simple past of bake

  2. ^ Weisenberg, Michael (2000) The Official Dictionary of Poker. MGI/Mike Caro University. →ISBN

bóók m (plural bák)

  1. (zoology) buck

From English book.

book

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, colloquial) to book; to reserve

book m (plural books)

  1. portfolio
  2. bookmaker

Compare Tagalog buhok.

boók

  1. (anatomy) hair

From Middle Low German bôk, from Old Saxon bōk, from Proto-West Germanic *bōk, from Proto-Germanic *bōks.

book n

  1. (many dialects) book

book

  1. piece

book

  1. alternative form of bok

book

  1. alternative form of bouk

book

  1. imperative of booke

Categories: