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Bible

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: bible

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English bible, from Medieval 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 (whence English writs) for "the Scriptures".

Proper noun

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the Bible (plural Bibles)

An open Bible
  2. Either of two major versions of the main religious text in the Judeo-Christian group of traditions.
    2. The main religious text in Christianity.
      Synonyms: Christian Bible, Holy Bible, Good Book, Book, word of God, word of life
      Meronyms: Old Testament, New Testament
      In my religion class we learn about the Bible, as well as religious texts of other religions.
      • 1898 October, “Missionary Conference held at Kuling, Central China, August 22nd to 25th, 1898”, in Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal‎[1], volume 39, number 10, page 496:
        He spoke of the great demand for books. Had sold as many as fifty Bibles in one day. Has sold Bibles to nearly all the officials in the Nan-ch'ang prefecture and has several orders in hand for books of good binding.
      • 2009, Across the Spectrum: Understanding Issues in Evangelical Theology, page 16:
        Many non-Christians regard portions of the Bible as “inspiring,” but they do not believe the Bible was “inspired by God” […]
      • 2015 January 6, Rachel Held Evans, “What Newsweek gets wrong about evangelicals”, in CNN‎[2]:
        “They wave their Bibles at passersby, screaming their condemnations,” writes Kurt Eichenwald of evangelical Christians.
      • 2019 October 31, Garrick Beckett, “Beckett: How BioWare Approaches Religion & Sexuality”, in The Lutheran Column‎[3], archived from the original on 17 September 2020, Blog‎[4]:
        Second, the romance option brings up a unique issue: having sex with an alien. It’s somewhat difficult to say what the Christian should think on this issue because, well, the Bible doesn’t talk about aliens. Probably because they don’t exist (sorry to burst your bubble). Would this be considered bestiality? Or is it not bestiality since they are also beings capable of rational and ethical thought and self-reflection unlike usual animals?
      • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Bible.
    4. The Jewish holy book that was largely incorporated into the Christian Bible.
      Synonyms: Tanakh, Tanach, Jewish Bible, Hebrew Bible, Hebrew Scriptures, Hebrew-Aramaic Scriptures
      Near-synonym: Old Testament (loosely synonymous)
      She's Jewish, but she doesn't read the Bible because she's not religious.
  3. The analogous holy book of another religion or belief system.
    He conveys to his foreign students the importance of the Qur'an by explaining that it is the Bible of Islam.
  4. (loosely) The principal important document of some area of skill or expertise.
    This technical handbook is the Bible of our trade.
Alternative forms
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Coordinate terms
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religious textsedit
Derived terms
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Descendants
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Translations
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Noun

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Bible (plural Bibles)

  1. A specific version, edition, translation, or copy of one of the above-mentioned texts.
    • 1842, A. D. Eddy, Black Jacob, page 38:
      He had just become able to read, with much effort, short sentences in his Bible, and was constantly engaged during his leisure hours in studying its pages.
    • 2014 November 1, Tony Bonnici, “US tourist held in North Korea felt ‘compelled to leave Bible’”, in The Times‎[6], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 August 2023‎[7]:
      An American imprisoned for nearly six months in North Korea has admitted that he deliberately left a Bible in a nightclub, in one of his first major interviews since his release. […] “I felt once I left the Bible somewhere that God would take it the rest of the way into the hands of some kind of Christian organisation, and I’d be able to waltz out of country fat, dumb and happy, no problem... But God had other plans.”
Alternative forms
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  • (specific version or copy): bible

See also

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Etymology 2

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From a Middle English diminutive of the given name Isabel.

Proper noun

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Bible

  1. A surname originating as a matronymic.

Czech

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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Bible f (relational adjective biblický)

  1. the Bible (The Christian holy book; the Old and New Testaments)

Declension

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Declension of Bible (soft feminine)
singular plural
nominative Bible Bible
genitive Bible Biblí
dative Bibli Biblím
accusative Bibli Bible
vocative Bible Bible
locative Bibli Biblích
instrumental Biblí Biblemi
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Further reading

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French

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Etymology

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From Latin biblia, from Ancient Greek τά βιβλία (tá biblía, literally “the books”).

Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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Bible f

  1. the Bible (The Christian holy book; the Old and New Testaments)

Middle English

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Proper noun

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Bible

  1. alternative form of bible

Middle French

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Proper noun

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Bible f

  1. The Bible (The Christian holy book; the Old and New Testaments)
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