Dictionary

library en · NOUN

Pronunciation

/ˈlaɪ.bɹi/ (UK)
/ˈlaɪˌbɹɛɹ.i/ (General-American)
/ˈlaɪ.bɹəɹ.i/ (General-American)
/ˈlaɪˌbɛɹ.i/ nonstandard, often stigmatized, see below
/ˈlaɪ.bɹə.ɹi/ (Received-Pronunciation)
(US) audio
(General-American) audio
/ˈlaɪ.bəɹi/ nonstandard, often stigmatized, see below

Etymology

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”). Displaced native Middle English bochous, bokhus (literally “book house”), from Old English bōchūs (compare bookhouse). 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.

Meanings

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.
- When all else fails, give up and go to the library. 2012, Stephen King, 11/22/63, page 133:
- Libraries have been burnt and whole religious movements wiped out because their belief and myths have been considered to be of dubious origin by the upholders of orthodoxy[.] 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light:Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, page 11:
- She went to exchange her books at her local library.
(broadly) Any institution that lends out its goods for use by the public or a community.
- […] bike library where, as of 2016, there had been 275 check-outs per bike per year between 2010 and 2016. According to the librarians, the bikes are constantly in use during periods of good weather (Vilelle 2017). 2020, Noah Lenstra, Healthy Living at the Library: Programs for All Ages:
- You can check out a bandsaw from the tool library.
A collection of books or other forms of stored information.
- A small library of books has been written on the subject. 1896, Alfred Newton, A Dictionary of Birds, page 71:
- My library is not a single beast but a composite of many others, a fantastic animal made up of the several libraries built and then abandoned, over and over again, throughout my life. I can’t remember a time in which I didn’t have a library of some sort. The present one is a sort of multilayered autobiography, each book holding the moment in which I opened it for the first time. 2008 May 15, Alberto Manguel, “A 30,000-Volume Window on the World”, in New York Times:
A collection of information or reference materials not in book form.
- She has the most impressive record library I've ever seen.
- At his office in Copenhagen's Amager neighborhood, Thulstrup maintains a vast materials library, arranging samples and mock-ups on tables as tactile mood boards. 2026 May 14, Sam Cochran, “Feeling Zen”, in Architectural Digest, volume 83, number 4, page 100:
A room dedicated to storing books.
A collection of software routines that provide functionality to be incorporated into or used by a computer program.
- A static library is much like any other library in that it contains a bunch of code for your application to use. 2014, John Paul Mueller, Jeff Cogswell, C++ All-in-One For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 307:
A collection of DNA material from a single organism or relative to a single disease.
(qualifier:Magic: The Gathering) The deck or draw pile.
- At this phase, most of TCGs only allow players drawing card(s) from a pack which is also called library or deck. 2010, Zhigeng Pan, Maiga Chang, Adrian David Cheok, Transactions on Edutainment III, →ISBN, page 119:
- At the conclusion of every duel, each player must show the remaining cards in his or her hand to the opponent to verify that no Restricted List duplicate cards appear there (e.g., to prove that a second Time Walk wasn't drawn from his library). 1994, The Magic, the Gathering: Pocket Players' Guide, →ISBN, page 167:
- But why did very good players shy away from cards that are so obviously good from our perspectives? One very real possibility is that library manipulation/increased selection and redundancy tech had not yet been established - after all, many players were amazed at Lestree's use of the Sylvan Library to draw extra cards! 2006, Michael J. Flores, Deckade: 10 Years of Decks, Thoughts, and Theory!, →ISBN, page 228:
- To win a game of Magic, you must achieve one of two chief goals: either be the first to reduce your opponent's life total from 20 to 0, or force him or her to attempt to draw a card from his or her library when there are no cards left in it. 2006, John Kaufeld, Jeremy Smith, Trading Card Games For Dummies, →ISBN, page 50:
- The deck becomes the draw pile, also called the library, from which each player repeatedly draws cards for his or her own hand, cards that are gradually included into the game. 2010, Shirley R. Steinberg, Michael Kehler, Lindsay Cornish, Boy Culture: An Encyclopedia, →ISBN, page 418:

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
libraries	Number=Plur		lexicographic

Translations (343)

bo དཔེ་མཛོད་ཁང (institution which holds books, etc.) · pl biblioteka (collection of books) · tl aklatan (collection of books) · ur کُتُب خانَہ (institution which holds books, etc.) · ba китапхана (institution which holds books, etc.) · kw leverva (institution which holds books, etc.) · tpi haus buk (institution which holds books, etc.) · it archivio (collection of other materials) · uz kutubxona (institution which holds books, etc.) · it grimorio (deck or draw pile) · fi ohjelmakirjasto (collection of subprograms) · cv библиотека (institution which holds books, etc.) · lb Bibliothéik (institution which holds books, etc.) · it libreria (collection of DNA material) · he ספרייה \ סִפְרִיָּה (collection of books) · kn ಗ್ರಂಥಾಲಯ (institution which holds books, etc.) · izh kirjasikko (institution which holds books, etc.) · zh 牌庫 /牌库 (deck or draw pile) · sah бибилэтиэкэ (institution which holds books, etc.) · es biblioteca (collection of books) · de Bibliothek (deck or draw pile) · tn laeborari (institution which holds books, etc.) · zh 收藏 (collection of books) · sh knjížnica (collection of books) · hu programkönyvtár (collection of subprograms) · af boekery (institution which holds books, etc.) · fi äänilevystö (collection of other materials) · gv thie lioaragh (institution which holds books, etc.) · ar مَكْتَبَة (institution which holds books, etc.) · bn গ্রন্থাগার (institution which holds books, etc.) · de Programmbibliothek (collection of subprograms) · si පුස්තකාලය (institution which holds books, etc.) · id khizanatulkitab (institution which holds books, etc.) · sw maktaba (collection of other materials) · eo libropruntejo (institution which holds books, etc.) · ca biblioteca (institution which holds books, etc.) · ha laburare (institution which holds books, etc.) · cy llyfrgell (collection of books) · aii ܒܹܝܬ ܐܲܪ̈ܟܹܐ (institution which holds books, etc.) · mfe bibliotek (institution which holds books, etc.) · hi पुस्तकालय (institution which holds books, etc.) · rue книжніця (institution which holds books, etc.) · zh 圖書館 /图书馆 (institution which holds books, etc.) · sk knižnica (institution which holds books, etc.) · eo arĥivo (collection of other materials) · zh фуфон (institution which holds books, etc.) · ca biblioteca (collection of subprograms) · mk библио́тека (collection of books) · bo དཔེ་མཛོད (institution which holds books, etc.) · de Bücherei (institution which holds books, etc.) · ur لائِبْریری (institution which holds books, etc.) · is bókhlaða (institution which holds books, etc.) · is forritasafn (collection of subprograms) · ru библиоте́ка (collection of books) · cs fonotéka (collection of other materials) · eo biblioteko (collection of books) · sco leebrary (collection of books) · ug كۈتۈپخانا (institution which holds books, etc.) · vo bukem (institution which holds books, etc.) · vo bukem (collection of books) · ms perpustakaan (collection of books) · izh bibliotekka (institution which holds books, etc.) · grc βιβλιοθήκη (institution which holds books, etc.) · nb bibliotek (institution which holds books, etc.) · fi levystö (collection of other materials) · fo bókasavn (collection of subprograms) · sco leebrary (institution which holds books, etc.) · el δισκοθήκη (collection of other materials) · hak 圖書館 /图书馆 (institution which holds books, etc.) · th คลังสมอง (institution which holds books, etc.) · sh библиоте́ка (institution which holds books, etc.) · ka ბიბლიოთეკა (institution which holds books, etc.) · new सफूधुकू (institution which holds books, etc.) · ko 라이브러리 (collection of subprograms) · is bókahús (institution which holds books, etc.) · fr librairie (collection of subprograms) · mk библио́тека (collection of subprograms) · ang bōchord (collection of books) · bg библиоте́ка (institution which holds books, etc.) · bg библиотека (collection of books) · ca biblioteca (collection of books) · it banca dati (collection of other materials) · gl biblioteca (institution which holds books, etc.) · jv bibliotik (institution which holds books, etc.) · ce жаргат (institution which holds books, etc.) · tr kütüphane (institution which holds books, etc.) · kw lyverva (institution which holds books, etc.) · es biblioteca (deck or draw pile) · ga leabharlann (collection of subprograms) · grc βιβλιοθήκη (collection of books) · yue 圖書館 /图书馆 (institution which holds books, etc.) · yo ilé-ìkàwé (institution which holds books, etc.) · he ספרייה \ סִפְרִיָּה (collection of subprograms) · fr bibliothèque (collection of DNA material) · pl biblioteczka (collection of books) · fr bibliothèque (deck or draw pile) · hy գրադարան (collection of books) · id perpustakaan (institution which holds books, etc.) · ga leabharlann (institution which holds books, etc.) · uk бібліоте́ка (collection of books) · pt biblioteca (collection of DNA material) · pa ਕਿਤਾਬ-ਘਰ (institution which holds books, etc.) · gcr bibliyotèk (institution which holds books, etc.) · de Archiv (collection of other materials) · sq bibliotekë (collection of books) · su ᮕᮨᮁᮕᮥᮞ᮪ᮒᮊᮃᮔ᮪ (institution which holds books, etc.) · lv bibliotēka (collection of books) · is bókasafn (institution which holds books, etc.) · my စာကြည့်တိုက် (institution which holds books, etc.) · es biblioteca (institution which holds books, etc.) · ko 도서관 (institution which holds books, etc.) · za duzsuhgvanj (institution which holds books, etc.) · mi whare pukapuka (institution which holds books, etc.) · or ପାଠାଗାର (institution which holds books, etc.) · mk библио́тека (institution which holds books, etc.) · gv lioar-hasht (institution which holds books, etc.) · te గ్రంథాలయము (institution which holds books, etc.) · fo bókasavn (collection of books) · sv bibliotek (collection of books) · sms ǩeʹrjjpõrtt (institution which holds books, etc.) · ne पुस्तकालय (institution which holds books, etc.) · af biblioteek (institution which holds books, etc.) · rsk библиотека (institution which holds books, etc.) · qu kamukuska (institution which holds books, etc.) · nrf bibliothèque (collection of books) · uk книгозбі́рня (institution which holds books, etc.) · hsb biblioteka (institution which holds books, etc.) · es biblioteca (collection of subprograms) · fi kirjasto (institution which holds books, etc.) · ce библиотека (institution which holds books, etc.) · kk кітапхана (institution which holds books, etc.) · mt librerija (institution which holds books, etc.) · fi kirjasto (collection of books) · uk бібліоте́ка (collection of other materials) · uk книгозбі́р (institution which holds books, etc.) · nl bibliotheek (collection of books) · pl biblioteka (collection of subprograms) · sq librari (institution which holds books, etc.) · ug كۇتۇپخانا (institution which holds books, etc.) · sh bibliotéka (institution which holds books, etc.) · lo ຫ້ອງສະມຸດ (institution which holds books, etc.) · ta நூலகம் (institution which holds books, etc.) · yi ביבליאָטעק (institution which holds books, etc.) · pt grimório (deck or draw pile) · sv arkiv (collection of other materials) · et raamatukogu (institution which holds books, etc.) · ko 장서 (collection of books) · la bibliothēca (institution which holds books, etc.) · eo libraro (collection of books) · wuu 圖書館 /图书馆 (institution which holds books, etc.) · lt biblioteka (institution which holds books, etc.) · sl knjižnica (institution which holds books, etc.) · wal maxaafa keettaa (institution which holds books, etc.) · it libreria (collection of books) · hy գրադարան (collection of other materials) · nl archief (collection of other materials) · pl księgozbiór (collection of books) · dsb knigłownja (institution which holds books, etc.) · sco leebrary (collection of other materials) · iba librari (institution which holds books, etc.) · se girjerádju (collection of books) · da bibliotek (collection of subprograms) · jv pabukon (institution which holds books, etc.) · fax biblioteca (institution which holds books, etc.) · id pustaka (collection of subprograms) · id perpustakaan (collection of books) · ca programoteca (collection of subprograms) · to laipeli (institution which holds books, etc.) · uk книгозбі́р (collection of books) · el βιβλιοθήκη (collection of subprograms) · sh књи́жница (collection of books) · dsb biblioteka (institution which holds books, etc.) · da bibliotek (institution which holds books, etc.) · he ספרייה \ סִפְרִיָּה (collection of other materials) · sh библиоте́ка (collection of books) · he ספרייה \ סִפְרִיָּה (institution which holds books, etc.) · sw maktaba (institution which holds books, etc.) · ps کتابتون (institution which holds books, etc.) · ja 文庫 (institution which holds books, etc.) · myv ловномакудо (institution which holds books, etc.) · vi thư viện (collection of subprograms) · yo láíbìrì (institution which holds books, etc.) · el βιβλιοθήκη (collection of books) · tzm ⵜⴰⵙⴷⵍⵉⵙⵜ (institution which holds books, etc.) · th ห้องสมุด (institution which holds books, etc.) · tk kitaphana (institution which holds books, etc.) · zh 圕 (institution which holds books, etc.) · gd leabharlann (collection of books) · lv bibliotēka (institution which holds books, etc.) · zh 圖書館 /图书馆 (institution which holds books, etc.) · rm biblioteca (institution which holds books, etc.) · am ቤተ መጻሕፍት (institution which holds books, etc.) · az kitabxana (institution which holds books, etc.) · pt arquivo (collection of other materials) · es biblioteca (collection of DNA material) · bg тесте (deck or draw pile) · mn номын сан (institution which holds books, etc.) · pa ਪੁਸਤਕਾਲਾ (institution which holds books, etc.) · nrf bibliothèque (institution which holds books, etc.) · nah āmoxcalli (institution which holds books, etc.) · ar مكتبة (institution which holds books, etc.) · pt biblioteca (collection of subprograms) · fy biblioteek (collection of books) · pt biblioteca (institution which holds books, etc.) · myv библиотека (institution which holds books, etc.) · cs knihovna (collection of books) · it libreria (collection of subprograms) · apw naltsoos dahójiiyú (institution which holds books, etc.) · shn ႁူင်းလူလိၵ်ႈ (institution which holds books, etc.) · or ଲାଇବ୍ରେରୀ (institution which holds books, etc.) · eo biblioteko (institution which holds books, etc.) · kmr pirtûkxane (institution which holds books, etc.) · ro bibliotecă (collection of books) · ar مكتبة (institution which holds books, etc.) · qu ñawiriy wasi (institution which holds books, etc.) · tl silid-aklatan (institution which holds books, etc.) · pl biblioteka (institution which holds books, etc.) · oc bibliotèca (institution which holds books, etc.) · pa ਲਾਇਬ੍ਰੇਰੀ (institution which holds books, etc.) · dtp librari (institution which holds books, etc.) · sco leebrary (collection of subprograms) · eu liburutegi (institution which holds books, etc.) · chr ᏧᏂᎪᎵᏰᏗᎢ (institution which holds books, etc.) · ru библиоте́ка (institution which holds books, etc.) · ast biblioteca (institution which holds books, etc.) · es librería (collection of books) · cy llyfrgell (institution which holds books, etc.) · shi tasarrat (institution which holds books, etc.) · mdf библиотека (institution which holds books, etc.) · el βιβλιοθήκη (institution which holds books, etc.) · ja ライブラリー (collection of subprograms) · uz biblioteka (institution which holds books, etc.) · hu könyvtár (collection of books) · hu könyvtár (institution which holds books, etc.) · tl aklatan (institution which holds books, etc.) · fr bibliothèque (collection of books) · hsb knihownja (institution which holds books, etc.) · fr bibliothèque (collection of subprograms) · blk ထွားလိတ်လမ်း (collection of subprograms) · ja 双書 (collection of books) · bg библиотека (collection of subprograms) · io biblioteko (institution which holds books, etc.) · ja 叢書 (collection of books) · sw maktaba (collection of subprograms) · id bibliotek (institution which holds books, etc.) · ja 書庫 (institution which holds books, etc.) · da bibliotek (collection of books) · nl bibliotheek (institution which holds books, etc.) · ga leabharlann (collection of books) · id pustaka (collection of DNA material) · av тӏахьалхана (institution which holds books, etc.) · sv bibliotek (institution which holds books, etc.) · nl boekerij (institution which holds books, etc.) · se girjerádju (institution which holds books, etc.) · sw maktaba (collection of books) · ang bōchūs (institution which holds books, etc.) · lo ຫໍສະໝຸດ (institution which holds books, etc.) · sh knjížnica (institution which holds books, etc.) · fi kirjasto (collection of DNA material) · de Bibliothek (institution which holds books, etc.) · km បណ្ណាល័យ (institution which holds books, etc.) · wa bibioteke (institution which holds books, etc.) · cv вулавӑш (institution which holds books, etc.) · ko 서고 (deck or draw pile) · pa پستکالا (institution which holds books, etc.) · chr ᎪᏪᎵ ᏕᎦᏅ ᏗᎪᎵᏰᏗ (institution which holds books, etc.) · ht bibliyotèk (institution which holds books, etc.) · ps کتابخانه (institution which holds books, etc.) · udm лыдӟиськонни (institution which holds books, etc.) · bal کتاب جاہ (institution which holds books, etc.) · bn লাইব্রেরি (institution which holds books, etc.) · eo arkivo (collection of other materials) · hi लाइब्रेरी (institution which holds books, etc.) · sa पुस्तकालय (institution which holds books, etc.) · gv lioarlan (institution which holds books, etc.) · fo bókasavn (institution which holds books, etc.) · ms perpustakaan (institution which holds books, etc.) · cs knihovna (collection of subprograms) · it biblioteca (collection of DNA material) · pt biblioteca (collection of books) · ro bibliotecă (institution which holds books, etc.) · ml ഗ്രന്ഥശാല (institution which holds books, etc.) · id taman pustaka (institution which holds books, etc.) · uk бібліоте́ка (collection of subprograms) · ja 図書館 (institution which holds books, etc.) · la librārium (collection of books) · nn bibliotek (institution which holds books, etc.) · fa کِتَابْخَانَه (institution which holds books, etc.) · udm книгакуа (institution which holds books, etc.) · bg архив (collection of other materials) · sq bibliotekë (institution which holds books, etc.) · sv bibliotek (collection of subprograms) · zh 藏書 /藏书 (collection of books) · de Bibliothek (collection of books) · ms koleksi (collection of other materials) · kpv лыддьысянін (institution which holds books, etc.) · ms kutubkhanah (institution which holds books, etc.) · cdo 圖書館 /图书馆 (institution which holds books, etc.) · ca llibreria (collection of subprograms) · sh књи́жница (institution which holds books, etc.) · zh 庫 /库 (collection of subprograms) · mr ग्रंथालय (institution which holds books, etc.) · kk дерекхана (collection of other materials) · fi kirjasto (deck or draw pile) · so maktabad (institution which holds books, etc.) · ota كتبخانه (institution which holds books, etc.) · udm книгакорка (institution which holds books, etc.) · nl boekenkast (collection of books) · as পুথিভঁৰাল (institution which holds books, etc.) · mn ᠨᠣᠮ ᠤᠨ ᠰᠠᠩ (institution which holds books, etc.) · gd leabharlann (institution which holds books, etc.) · zh 文庫 /文库 (collection of subprograms) · eo librejo (institution which holds books, etc.) · ms siri (collection of subprograms) · ru библиоте́ка (collection of subprograms) · sah библиотека (institution which holds books, etc.) · gu પુસ્તકાલય (institution which holds books, etc.) · ru библиоте́ка (deck or draw pile) · la librārium (institution which holds books, etc.) · hy գրադարան (institution which holds books, etc.) · uk бібліоте́ка (institution which holds books, etc.) · fy biblioteek (institution which holds books, etc.) · fa کِتابْخانِه (institution which holds books, etc.) · cs knihovna (institution which holds books, etc.) · fr bibliothèque (institution which holds books, etc.) · alt библиотека (institution which holds books, etc.) · lt biblioteka (collection of books) · sh bibliotéka (collection of books) · th หอสมุด (institution which holds books, etc.) · vi thư viện (institution which holds books, etc.) · dv ކުތުބުޚާނާ (institution which holds books, etc.) · pl książnica (institution which holds books, etc.) · it biblioteca (institution which holds books, etc.) · be бібліятэ́ка (institution which holds books, etc.) · tt китапханә (institution which holds books, etc.) · tg китобхона (institution which holds books, etc.) · ky китепкана (institution which holds books, etc.) · ja ライブラリー (deck or draw pile) · nv naaltsoos bá hooghan (institution which holds books, etc.) · udm библиотека (institution which holds books, etc.) · de Bibliothek (collection of subprograms) · jv kapustakan (collection of books) · ps کتابځی (institution which holds books, etc.)

wikidata: Q7075

library en · NOUN

Pronunciation

Etymology

Meanings

Forms

Coordinates

Deriveds

Descendants

Synonyms

Translations (343)