Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “biblical” come from?

Biblical comes from English bible, from French -ique, from Latin -icus, from Proto-Indo-European -kos, combined with Ancient Greek βίβλος meaning book.

biblical (English): Of or relating to the Bible; In accordance with...

Definitions

  1. Of or relating to the Bible; In accordance with...

Ancestry of “biblical”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishbibleAn exemplar of the Bible; A comprehensive manual...
2Middle EnglishbibleAny book that is of extensive length; A...
3Old Frenchbible—
4Medieval Latinbibliabook; Christian scripture; books
5LatinBiblia—
6Ancient Greekβιβλίαnominative/accusative/vocative plural of βιβλίον
7Ancient GreekβιβλίονStrip of papyrus; Small book, tablet, letter; Any...
8Ancient GreekβυβλίονStrip of papyrus; Small book, tablet, letter; Any...
9Ancient Greekβύβλοςpapyrus; book
10Phoenician𐤂𐤁𐤋—
11Phoenician𐤀𐤋god, deity
12Proto-Semiticʔil-deity, god

Words derived from “biblical”

  • Biblical
  • biblically
  • unbiblical
  • extrabiblical
  • nonbiblical
  • postbiblical
  • antibiblical
  • prebiblical
  • unbiblically
  • biblicality
  • counterbiblical
  • extra-Biblical
Every word from Proto-Semitic ʔil- →