# bible

Pronunciation: say "BY-buhl" /ˈbaɪbəl/

## Proper noun · Bible

1. The holy book that serves as the main religious text of Christianity.
   - Simple: The holy book of the Christian religion.
   - _The sermon drew on a passage from the Bible about loving your neighbor._
   - _Christians disagree about how literally the Bible should be read._
4. The holy book of Judaism, most of which was taken into the Christian Bible.
   - Simple: The holy book of the Jewish religion, much of it also found in 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._
5. The holy book of a religion or belief other than Christianity or Judaism, which plays the role the Bible plays for Christians.
   - Simple: The holy book of another religion or belief, used the way Christians use the Bible.
   - _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._

## Noun · Bible

2. A particular version, edition, translation, or copy of the Christian or Jewish scriptures or of another religion's holy book.
   - Simple: A single copy, edition, or translation of a holy book such as the Bible.
   - _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._

## Noun

3. A comprehensive manual on a subject, or a publication that commands a loyal readership.
   - Simple: A complete guide to a subject, or a magazine or other publication with very loyal readers.
   - _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._
6. A reference document that screenwriters use on a project, recording its characters, settings, and other elements.
   - Simple: A guide that the writers of a show or game use, with facts about its characters and places.
   - _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._

## Other meanings

- (noun) At 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.
- (noun) A binder that brings together copies of the key documents in one matter, such as a lawsuit or business deal.
- (proper noun) A family name that came from a mother's given name.
- (noun) The upper part of a pin-tumbler lock, which houses the driver pins and their springs.
- (noun) The omasum: the third compartment of the stomach of a cow, sheep, or other ruminant.
- (noun) A holystone: a piece of sandstone used for scouring the wooden decks of ships.

## Origin

**Meanings 3, 6** — 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.
**Meanings 1–2, 4–5** — 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.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/bible (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).