Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “bible” come from?

bible (Middle English) comes from Old French bible, from Medieval Latin biblia, from Latin Biblia, from Ancient Greek βιβλία, from Ancient Greek βιβλίον, from Ancient Greek βυβλίον, from Ancient Greek βύβλος, from Phoenician 𐤂𐤁𐤋 — deity, god.

bible (Middle English): Any book that is of extensive length; A...

Definitions

  1. Any book that is of extensive length; A...

Ancestry of “bible”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchbible—
2Medieval Latinbibliabook; Christian scripture; books
3LatinBiblia—
4Ancient Greekβιβλίαnominative/accusative/vocative plural of βιβλίον
5Ancient GreekβιβλίονStrip of papyrus; Small book, tablet, letter; Any...
6Ancient GreekβυβλίονStrip of papyrus; Small book, tablet, letter; Any...
7Ancient Greekβύβλοςpapyrus; book
8Phoenician𐤂𐤁𐤋—
9Phoenician𐤀𐤋god, deity
10Proto-Semiticʔil-deity, god

Words derived from “bible”

  • Bible
  • biblical
  • Biblical
  • bible
  • biblically
  • unbiblical
  • extrabiblical
  • nonbiblical
  • postbiblical
  • antibiblical
  • prebiblical
  • unbiblically
  • biblicality
  • biblist
  • Biblezine
  • counterbiblical
  • extra-Biblical
  • ไบเบิล
  • iBhayibheli
  • Baibel
  • baibulo
  • Paipel
Every word from Proto-Semitic ʔil- →