bible
- 1The holy book that serves as the main religious text of Christianity.
The sermon drew on a passage from the Bible about loving your neighbor.
Christians disagree about how literally the Bible should be read.
Note
The name means "the books": Greek biblía was the plural of a word for a small book, and medieval Latin mistook it for a singular, so a set of books became one book. Further back stands búblos, "papyrus". As a name it usually takes the: read the Bible, quote the Bible.
- 2A particular version, edition, translation, or copy of the Christian or Jewish scriptures or of another religion's holy book.
The family Bible, with births and marriages recorded on its first pages, has been handed down for generations.
The bookstore stocks Bibles in a dozen different translations.
Note
Here the scripture becomes an object to own, count, sell and give away: a Bible, two Bibles, his Bible, the family Bible. Even as a thing on a shelf it usually keeps its capital letter, in the plural too.
- 3A comprehensive manual on a subject, or a publication that commands a loyal readership.
Generations of home cooks have treated her book as the bible of French cooking.
The trade weekly became the bible of the music industry, read by every agent and promoter.
Similarhandbook, manual, guide
Note
The holy book lent its name to any book a field swears by: the handyman's bible, the bible of French cooking. It usually comes with a possessive or an of phrase naming its subject or its readers, as when Richard Barbrook and Andy Cameron called Wired "the monthly bible of the 'virtual class'".
- 4The holy book of Judaism, most of which was taken into the Christian Bible.
In Jewish tradition the Bible is divided into three parts: the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings.
Her bat mitzvah speech was about a story from the Bible.
SimilarTanakh
Note
Context decides which book the name points to. Among Jewish readers, as in she's Jewish, but she doesn't read the Bible, it means this scripture alone; in Christian use the same books sit inside a larger whole, the Christian scripture, so where the two could be confused it is worth saying which is meant.
- 5The holy book of a religion or belief other than Christianity or Judaism, which plays the role the Bible plays for Christians.
The Avesta, the Bible of the Zoroastrian faith, survives only in part.
At every service, the sect's followers read aloud from the prophet's revelations, the Bible of their new religion.
Note
It works as a comparison, usually in the frame the Bible of a faith or movement: Roxane Witke's Comrade Chiang Ch'ing (1977) reports that foreigners dubbed the Little Red Book "the Bible of Maoism". The capital treats the text as scripture; the same frame with a small b gives the "trusted handbook" meaning.
- 6A reference document that screenwriters use on a project, recording its characters, settings, and other elements.
Before the writers' room opened, the showrunner sent around a forty-page bible covering every character's backstory.
The game's story bible keeps the lore consistent from one sequel to the next.
Note
On a long-running series it is what keeps many writers consistent: a newcomer reads it for each character's history, the rules of the world and the facts already set down on screen. It is also called a show bible or series bible, and game studios keep a story bible in the same way.
- 7At some US universities, a collection of problems and solutions from earlier years of a course, which some students use to cheat on tests or assignments.
- 8A binder that brings together copies of the key documents in one matter, such as a lawsuit or business deal.
- 9A family name that came from a mother's given name.
- 10The upper part of a pin-tumbler lock, which houses the driver pins and their springs.
- 11The omasum: the third compartment of the stomach of a cow, sheep, or other ruminant.
- 12A holystone: a piece of sandstone used for scouring the wooden decks of ships.
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Origins
From Middle English bible, from Medieval Latin biblia (“book”) (a feminine misreading of the earlier Latin neuter plural biblia, “books”), from Ancient Greek βιβλία (biblía, “books”), plural of βιβλίον (biblíon, “small book”). That was originally a diminutive of βίβλος (bíblos, “book”), from βύβλος (búblos, “papyrus”), named after the Phoenician city of Byblos, which exported this writing material.
From Middle English bible, from Medieval Latin biblia ("book"), from Ancient Greek biblía ("books"), plural of biblíon ("small book"). That goes back to býblos ("papyrus"), possibly named after the Phoenician city of Byblos, which exported this writing material.