Where does “BibTeX” come from?

BibTeX (English) comes from English bibliography, from Ancient Greek βιβλιογραφία, from Ancient Greek βιβλίον, from Ancient Greek βυβλίον, from Ancient Greek βύβλος, from Phoenician 𐤂𐤁𐤋, from Phoenician 𐤀𐤋, from Proto-Semitic ʔil- — deity, god.

BibTeX (English): A reference-management software package for formatting lists of references

Definitions

  1. A reference-management software package for formatting lists of references

Ancestry of “BibTeX”, step by step

BibTeX traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English bibliography

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishbibliographyA section of a written work containing citations,...
2Ancient Greekβιβλιογραφίαthe act or habit of writing books
3Ancient GreekβιβλίονStrip of papyrus; Small book, tablet, letter; Any...
4Ancient GreekβυβλίονStrip of papyrus; Small book, tablet, letter; Any...
5Ancient Greekβύβλοςpapyrus; book
6Phoenician𐤂𐤁𐤋Byblos
7Phoenician𐤀𐤋god, deity
8Proto-Semiticʔil-deity, god

via English tex

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishtexA milligram per meter, a unit of linear mass...
2Ancient Greekτέχνηcraft, skill, trade; art; cunning, wile
3Ancient Greek-λογίαBase for nouns denoting the study of something,...
4Ancient GreekλόγοςThat which is said: word, sentence, speech,...
5Ancient GreekλέγωI put in order, arrange, gather; I choose, count,...
6Proto-Indo-Europeanleǵ-to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to...
Every word from Proto-Semitic ʔil-Every word from Phoenician 𐤀𐤋Every word from Phoenician 𐤂𐤁𐤋