Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “librarian” come from?

Librarian comes from English library, from Anglo-Norman librarie, from Latin librarium meaning a collection of books, from Latin liber meaning book, from Proto-Indo-European lewbʰ-.

librarian (English): The keeper, manager of a library; One who cares...

Definitions

  1. The keeper, manager of a library; One who cares...

Ancestry of “librarian”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishlibraryAn institution which holds books and/or other...
2Middle Englishlibrarielibrary, reading room; bookshelf, bookcase;...
3Anglo-Norman Frenchlibrarie—
4Old Frenchlibrairie—
5Latinlibrariuma bookcase; a library
6Latinlibrariusof or pertaining to books; a scribe, copyist,...
7LatinLīber—
8Old Latinloeber—
9Frenchloberto lob
10Frenchloblob
11EnglishlobTo throw or hit a ball into the air in a high...
12EnglishlongHaving much distance from one terminating point...
13EnglishlongitudeAngular distance measured west or east of the...
14Old Frenchlongitude—
15Latinlongitūdō—
16Latinlongusfar, long; extended, prolonged; long; tedious,...
17Latin-ē—
18Latindis-asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;...
19Latincalceusshoe

Words derived from “librarian”

  • librarianship
  • sublibrarian
  • nonlibrarian
  • e-librarian
  • unlibrarianly
  • librarianlike
  • librarianly
Every word from Latin calceus →