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Where does the word "book" come from? It comes from Proto-Germanic bōks, passing through Old English before entering English (1500s).
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Where does the word "book" come from? It comes from Proto-Germanic bōks, passing through Old English before entering English (1500s).
Book’s story begins in Proto-Germanic: bōks meant “letter, tablet.” Probably from 'bōkō', beech, whose wood may have been used for carving runes. By 700s-1000s, the word had taken hold in Old English as bōc. 'bōchūs', book-house, was a word for a library. It reached English by 1500s as book. 'bookworm' dates from the 1590s. Today, book means a set of written or printed pages bound together.
- Stage 1 · Proto-Germanic · ancient bōks "letter, tablet", probably from 'bōkō', beech, whose wood may have been used for carving runes.
- Stage 2 · Old English · 700s-1000s bōc "book, document", 'bōchūs', book-house, was a word for a library.
- Stage 3 · English · 1500s book "book", 'bookworm' dates from the 1590s.