Phrase guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
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noun
An insatiable and obsessive bookworm (“avid book reader”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, literary
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Learned borrowing from Late Latin helluō librōrum (“glutton of books”), from Latin helluō (“glutton; squanderer”) + librōrum (“of books”). Helluō is derived from helluārī + -ō (suffix forming masculine agent nouns, nicknames, and other designations); helluārī is the present active infinitive of helluor (“to be a glutton, gormandize”), further etymology unknown. Librōrum is the genitive plural form of liber (“book; inner bark of a tree”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewbh- (“to cut off, peel”)). The plural form is also borrowed from Late Latin helluōnēs librōrum.
Across languages
4 source translations are retained for this English entry.
