biblio-, bibli-, bibl-, biblico-

(Greek: book, books)

Books from the past to the present.
Bible (s) (noun), Bibles (pl)
1. A copy or an edition of the Scriptures.
2. A book containing the sacred writings of any religion.
bible (s) (noun), bibles (pl)
1. Any book considered authoritative or indispensable on a particular subject or subjects.
2. An unrivaled reference book or guidebook.
3. When not capitalized, it refers to a book that is looked upon as authoritative or as a preeminent work of literature.
4. A collection of writings or a library of books.
biblia abiblia, biblia a-biblia (s) (noun); biblia abiblias (pl)
A non-book or books that are no books: Biblia abiblias are publications of no human interest or are considered worthless as literature.

"I can read anything which I call a book", wrote Charles Lamb. "There are things in that shape which I cannot allow for such. In this catalogue of books which are not books—biblia a-biblia—I reckon Court (Royal) Calendars, Directories, Pocket Books, Draught Boards, bound and lettered on the back, Scientific Treatises, Almanacs, Statutes at Large, the works of Hume, Gibbon, Robertson, Beattie, Soame Jenyns, and generally, all those volumes which, 'no gentleman's library should be without.' "

Word and Phrase Origins by Robert Hendrickson
(New York: Facts On File, Inc., 1997), p. 70.
Biblia Pauperum (s) (noun), Biblia Paupera (pl)
Any of the picture books illustrating Biblical events and usually containing a short text, used primarily in the Middle Ages for purposes of religious instruction; literally, "Bible of the poor": "The Biblia Pauperum series commonly consisted of forty or fifty pages and each page was divided into nine sections. The four corners were used for explanatory texts while the central pictures represented scenes from Christ's life, arranged chronologically.

Also, above and below the Biblia Paupera were pictures of prophets and on each side were scenes from the Old Testament, all of which resulted in a concordance of the Old and the New Testament events in human salvation.

The Biblia Pauperum was one of the first books printed by block printing (a single woodcut for each page) and the simpler versions were probably used by the clergy as teaching aids for those who could not read, which included most of the populations.

biblic (adjective), more biblic, most biblic
Of, or pertaining to, derived from, or in accord with the Bible: There is a biblic learning and a biblic authority.
Biblical (adjective), more Biblical, most Biblical
Of, or pertaining to, derived from, or in accord with the Bible: The theology students spent a great deal of time with their Biblical learning and they were seeking Biblical authority for their religious views.
Biblicism (noun) Biblicisms (pl)
1. The literal interpretation of the Bible.
2. Learning or literature relating to the Bible.
3. Having a particular regard for the Bible as the Word of God and the ultimate authority for religious beliefs and morality.
Biblicist, biblicist (s) (noun); Biblicists, biblicists (pl)
1. A person who is versed in the Bible.
2. Someone who adheres to the letter of the Bible; specifically, one of the medieval doctors (sometimes called Biblical doctors) who demonstrated religious truths primarily by means of the Bible.
Biblicistic, biblicistic (s) (noun); Biblicistics, biblicistics (pl)
A reference to a person, or people, who present the Bible in its literal interpretations.
Biblico, biblico (adjective); more Biblico, biblico; most Biblico, biblico
A combining form denoting or relating to the Bible: Biblical is used to identify various concepts; such as, Biblicolegal, Biblicoliterary and Biblicopsychological.
biblio-, bibli- (prefixes)
Book or books.
A stack of books.
Word Info image © ALL rights reserved.

The biblio- element has many well-known applications in the English language; however, there are probably several new words that you could add to your vocabulary.

A Bibliography is one asset to knowing where much of the information for this dictionary comes from.

This is probably just one example of a bibliokleptomaniac exceeding his desire to "protect" neglected books. A true story that appeared in newspapers in May, 2002 and June, 2003 regarding a teacher who found a secret entrance to an old eighth-century monastery in Alsace, France; with illustrations that show how this teacher performed his "book rescues".

"I'm afraid my burning passion overrode my conscience. It may appear selfish, but I felt the books had been abandoned. They were covered with dust and pigeon droppings and I felt no one consulted them anymore," said the borrower of the books.

bibliobesity (s) (noun), bibliobesities (pl)
A vast amount of verbal flab squeezed between hard or soft covers of publications: Bibliobesity means literally "book obesity",and contains nothing but bloated phrases without content.
bibliobibulus (s) (noun), bibliobibuli (pl)
1. People who read too much, and so are oblivious of the real world.
2. Anyone who gets "drunk on books" or who reads too much; excessive reading.

There are people who read too much: The bibliobibuli. I know some who are constantly drunk on books, as other men are drunk on whiskey or religion.

They wander through this most diverting and stimulating of worlds in a haze, seeing nothing and hearing nothing.

—H. L. Menchken (1880-1956)
biblioclasm (s) (noun), biblioclasms (pl)
Destruction of books, especially the Bible: Book burning is just one way of destroying books or committing biblioclasms, often ceremoniously, including one or more copies of a book or other written material during the process.

In modern times, other forms of media; such as, phonograph records, video tapes, and CDs have also been ceremoniously burned, torched, or shredded in biblioclasms. The practice is usually carried out in public, and is generally motivated by moral, religious, or political objections to the materials.

biblioclast (s) (noun), biblioclasts (pl)
A destroyer or mutilator of books: A biblioclast is someone who habitually damages books or tears them apart until they are no longer readable or useful.

Related book unit: libr-.