library

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li·brar·y

(lī′brĕr′ē)

n. pl. li·brar·ies

a. A place in which reading materials, such as books, periodicals, and newspapers, and often other materials such as musical and video recordings, are kept for use or lending.

b. A collection of such materials, especially when systematically arranged.

c. A room in a private home for such a collection.

d. An institution or foundation maintaining such a collection.

2. A set of things similar to a library in appearance, function, or organization, especially:

a. A series of books issued by a publisher.

b. A collection of standard routines used in computer programs, usually stored as an executable file.

c. A collection of cloned DNA sequences whose location and identity can be established by mapping the genome of a particular organism.

d. A collection of proteins generated from the collected DNA sequences that express them, used for tracking metabolic functions of proteins in diseases such as cancer, for the synthesis of new drugs, and for other proteomics research.

[Middle English librarie, from Anglo-Norman, from Latin librārium, bookcase, from neuter of librārius, of books, from liber, libr-, inner bark of trees used as a writing material, book.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

library

(ˈlaɪbrərɪ)

n, pl -braries

1. (Library Science & Bibliography) a room or set of rooms where books and other literary materials are kept

2. (Library Science & Bibliography) a collection of literary materials, films, CDs, children's toys, etc, kept for borrowing or reference

3. (Library Science & Bibliography) the building or institution that houses such a collection: a public library.

4. (Library Science & Bibliography) a set of books published as a series, often in a similar format

5. (Computer Science) computing a collection of standard programs and subroutines for immediate use, usually stored on disk or some other storage device

6. a collection of specific items for reference or checking against: a library of genetic material.

[C14: from Old French librairie, from Medieval Latin librāris, n use of Latin librārius relating to books, from liber book]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

li•brar•y

(ˈlaɪˌbrɛr i, -brə ri, -bri)

n., pl. -brar•ies.

a. a place, as a building or set of rooms, containing books, recordings, or other reading, viewing, or listening materials arranged and cataloged in a fixed way.

b. such a place together with the staff maintaining it, as a public facility funded by a government, as part of a school, business, etc., or as a private establishment.

2. any collection of books, or the space containing them.

3. any set of items resembling a library in appearance, organization, or purpose: a library of computer software.

4. a series of books of similar character or alike in size, binding, etc., issued by a single publishing house.

[1300–50; Middle English libraire < Middle French librairie < Medieval Latin librāria, n. use of feminine of Latin librārius (adj.) of books]

pron: library, with two barely separated r-sounds, is particularly vulnerable to dissimilation - the tendency for neighboring like sounds to become unlike, or for one of them to disappear altogether. The pronunciation (ˈlaɪ brɛr i) therefore, while still the most common, is frequently reduced by educated speakers, both in the U.S. and in England, to the dissimilated (ˈlaɪ bə ri) or (ˈlaɪ bri) A third dissimilated form (ˈlaɪ bɛr i) is more likely to be heard from less educated or very young speakers and is often criticized. See colonel, February.

Library

a collection of books, 1540; therefore a collection of knowledge.

Examples: library of God’s law, 1703; of opinions, 1570; of reason, 1485; of my understanding, 1549.

library

– bookshop

1. 'library'

A library is a building where books are kept that people can look at or borrow.

You can borrow the book from your local library.

A library is also a private collection of books, or a room in a large house where books are kept.

I once stayed in one of his houses and saw his library.

2. 'bookshop'

Don't refer to a shop where you can buy books as a 'library'. In Britain, a shop like this is called a bookshop. In America, it is called a bookstore.

I went into the bookshop to buy a present for my son.

My wife works in a bookstore.

Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	library - a room where books are kept; "they had brandy in the library" house - a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families; "he has a house on Cape Cod"; "she felt she had to get out of the house" room - an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling; "the rooms were very small but they had a nice view"
	2.	library - a collection of literary documents or records kept for reference or borrowing aggregation, collection, accumulation, assemblage - several things grouped together or considered as a whole bibliotheca - a collection of books public library - a nonprofit library maintained for public use rental collection - a collection of books that can be rented by readers in return for a small daily fee
	3.	library - a depository built to contain books and other materials for reading and study depository library athenaeum, atheneum - a place where reading materials are available carrell, cubicle, carrel, stall - small individual study area in a library depositary, depository, repository, deposit - a facility where things can be deposited for storage or safekeeping circulating library, lending library - library that provides books for use outside the building reading room - a room set aside for reading stacks - storage space in a library consisting of an extensive arrangement of bookshelves where most of the books are stored
	4.	library - (computing) a collection of standard programs and subroutines that are stored and available for immediate use program library, subroutine library computer programing, computer programming, programing, programming - creating a sequence of instructions to enable the computer to do something library program - a program in a program library cataloged procedure - a set of control statements that have been placed in a library and can be retrieved by name library routine - a debugged routine that is maintained in a program library aggregation, collection, accumulation, assemblage - several things grouped together or considered as a whole
	5.	library - a building that houses a collection of books and other materials building, edifice - a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place; "there was a three-story building on the corner"; "it was an imposing edifice"

Translations

مَكْتَبَةٌمَكْتَبَه

knihovnafonotéka

bibliotekbogsamling

Bibliothek Bücherei

βιβλιοθήκη δισκοθήκη

bibliotekolibrarolibrejo

biblioteca

kirjastolevystöohjelmakirjastoäänilevystö

bibliothèque librairie

knjižnicabiblioteka

könyvtár

bókasafn

biblioteca bibliotecario discoteca

図書館

도서관

bibliotekabibliotekininkas

bibliotēka

bibliotheek boekenkast boekerij

bibliotecă

knjižnica

bibliotek

ห้องสมุด

kütüphane

thư viện

图书馆

library

[ˈlaɪbrərɪ]

A. N (also Comput) → biblioteca f
newspaper library → hemeroteca f
public library → biblioteca f pública
see also film D
see also video C

B. CPD library book N → libro m de biblioteca
library card N = library ticket library pictures NPL (TV) → imágenes fpl de archivo
library science N = librarianship 2 library ticket N → carnet m de biblioteca

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

La Biblioteca del Congreso es la biblioteca nacional de EE.UU. y tiene su sede en Washington D.C. Se fundó en 1800 como fuente de referencia para los miembros del Congreso y actualmente registra también los derechos de autor de todos los libros publicados en Estados Unidos, por lo que recibe dos ejemplares de cada publicación. Posee un fondo inmenso de libros y manuscritos históricos, así como partituras, mapas, películas, grabaciones sonoras y microfilmes.

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

library

[ˈlaɪbrəri] n

(public) → bibliothèque f

(in private house) → bibliothèque f

(= private collection) → bibliothèque flibrary book n → livre m de bibliothèquelibrary card n → carte f de bibliothèquelibrary pictures npl → images fpl d'archiveslibrary ticket n → carte f de bibliothèque

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

library

(public) → Bibliothek f, → Bücherei f

(private) → Bibliothek f

(= collection of books/records) → (Bücher-/Schallplatten)sammlung f

(= series of books) → Buchreihe f, → Bibliothek f

library

library book

n → Leihbuch nt

library card

n → Benutzerausweis m

library edition

n → Leihbuchausgabe f

library pictures

pl (TV) → Archivbilder pl

library science

n → Bibliothekswissenschaften pl

library ticket

n → Leserausweis m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

library

[ˈlaɪbrərɪ] n → biblioteca

library

(ˈlaibrəri) – plural ˈlibraries – noun

(a building or room containing) a collection of books, tapes, videos etc. He works in the public library; She has a fine library of books about art.

liˈbrarian (-ˈbreə-) noun

a person who is employed in a library.

library

→ مَكْتَبَةٌ knihovna bibliotek Bibliothek βιβλιοθήκη biblioteca kirjasto bibliothèque knjižnica biblioteca 図書館 도서관 bibliotheek bibliotek biblioteka biblioteca библиотека bibliotek ห้องสมุด kütüphane thư viện 图书馆

li·brar·y

n. biblioteca.

References in classic literature ?

MUIRHEAD LIBRARY OF PHILOSOPHY An admirable statement of the aims of the Library of Philosophy was provided by the first editor, the late Professor J.

View in context

A library is a better world, built by the brains and hearts of poets and dreamers, as a refuge from the real world outside; and in it alone is to be found the land of milk and honey which it promises.

View in context

THE Library at Windygates was the largest and the handsomest room in the house.

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Sir Robert's library soon became famous, and many scholars came to read there, for Sir Robert was very kind in allowing other people to use his books.

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It was the only social center of the garrison beside the strictly military headquarters; it had a billiard room and a bar, and even an excellent reference library for those officers who were so perverse as to take their profession seriously.

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Mitchell (New Universal Library), 1906, 1910; with an introductory essay by Prof.

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Casaubon in the library dozing chiefly, and Dorothea in her boudoir, where she was wont to occupy herself with some of her favorite books.

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The happy thought followed, "Why not do the same for her, poor dear, in every other room that she enters?" I immediately said good-bye; and, crossing the hall, slipped into the library. Samuel, coming up to let me out, and supposing I had gone, went down-stairs again.

View in context

She would not give him time to reply, but hurrying instantly to her husband, called out as she entered the library, "Oh!

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Ever since I can remember, the works of Swedenborg formed a large part of his library; he read them much himself, and much to my mother, and occasionally a "Memorable Relation" from them to us children.

View in context

Of the four inhabitable rooms which were all at the admiral's disposal during the day -- that is to say, of the dining-room, the library, the morning-room, and the drawing-room opening out of the vestibule -- the library appeared to be the apartment in which, if he had a preference, he passed the greater part of his time.

View in context

He had debated between the Berkeley Free Library and the Oakland Free Library, and decided upon the latter because Ruth lived in Oakland.