book
English
Pronunciation
- enPR: bo͝ok, IPA(key): /bʊk/
pluralAudio (US) (file) Audio (US) (file) Audio (UK) (file) - Rhymes: -ʊk
Etymology 1
From Middle English booke, book, bok, from Old English bōc, from Proto-Germanic *bōks (“beech, book”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂ǵos (“beech”).
Cognate with Scots buik, beuk (“book”), West Frisian boek (“book”), German Low German Book, Dutch Low Saxon book, Dutch boek (“book”), German Buch (“book”), Danish bog, Norwegian and Swedish bok (“book”).
Related also to Latin fāgus (“beech”), Russian бук (buk, “beech”), Albanian bung (“chestnut, oak”), Ancient Greek φηγός (phēgós, “oak”).
The sense development of beech to book is explained by the fact that smooth gray beech bark was commonly used as bookfell.[1]
Noun

book (plural books)
- A collection of sheets of paper bound together to hinge at one edge, containing printed or written material, pictures, etc.
- 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.
- A long work fit for publication, typically prose, such as a novel or textbook, and typically published as such a bound collection of sheets.
- I have three copies of his first book.
- (heraldry) A heraldic representation of such an object, used as a charge; as in the arms of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
- A major division of a long work.
- (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.
- A convenient collection, in a form resembling a book, of small paper items for individual use.
- a book of stamps
- a book of raffle tickets
- Synonym: booklet
- (theater) The script of a musical.
- Synonym: libretto
- (usually in the plural) Records of the accounts of a business.
- A long document stored (as data) that is or will become a book; an e-book.
- (law) A colloquial reference to 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).
- (whist) Six tricks taken by one side.
- (poker slang) four of a kind[2]
- (sports) A document, held by the referee, of the incidents happened in the game.
- (sports, by extension) A list of all players who have been booked (received a warning) in a game.
- (cartomancy) The twenty-sixth Lenormand card.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:book.
Hyponyms
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Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
See also
Etymology 2
From Middle English booken, boken, from Old English bōcian, ġebōcian, from the noun (see above).
Verb
book (third-person singular simple present books, present participle booking, simple past and past participle booked)
- (transitive) To reserve (something) for future use.
- I want to book a hotel room for tomorrow night
- I can book tickets for the concert next week.
- Synonym: reserve
- (transitive) To write down, to register or record in a book or as in a book.
- (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.
- (sports) To issue with a caution, usually a yellow card, or a red card if a yellow card has already been issued.
- (intransitive, slang) To travel very fast.
- To record bets as bookmaker.
- (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.
- (intransitive, slang) To leave.
- He was here earlier, but he booked.
Derived terms
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
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Etymology 3
See etymology on the main entry. 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”).
Verb
book
- (Britain dialectal, Northern England) simple past tense of bake
References
- ↑ J.P. Mallory, Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, s.v. "beech" (London: Fitroy-Dearborn, 1997), 58.
- ↑ Weisenberg, Michael (2000) The Official Dictionary of Poker. MGI/Mike Caro University. →ISBN
Anagrams
Limburgish
Etymology
From Middle Dutch boec, from Old Dutch buok, from Proto-Germanic *bōks.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /boːk/
Noun
book n (plural beuk)
Middle English
Etymology 1
From Old English bōc.
Noun
book (plural books)
- Alternative form of booke
Etymology 2
From Old English būc.
Noun
book (plural books)
- Alternative form of bouk