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Library

3 stages from Latin to English.

Today it means a building or room containing books for people to read or borrow

Where does the word "library" come from? It comes from Latin liber, passing through Old French before entering English (1300s).

liber→librairie→library

Latin · classical

'book', first meaning the inner bark of a tree, an early writing surface; librarium was a bookcase

Old French · 1200s

"book collection"

a collection of books; in modern French it means a bookshop, while a library is a bibliothèque

English · 1300s

"collection of books"

Chaucer uses 'librarie' in the 1370s; the British Museum, founded in 1753, held what became the British Library

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Read the full story

Library’s story begins in Latin: liber meant “bark; book.” 'book', first meaning the inner bark of a tree, an early writing surface; librarium was a bookcase. By 1200s, the word had taken hold in Old French as librairie. A collection of books; in modern French it means a bookshop, while a library is a bibliothèque. It reached English by 1300s as library. Chaucer uses 'librarie' in the 1370s; the British Museum, founded in 1753, held what became the British Library. Today, library means a building or room containing books for people to read or borrow.