Word
bible
US/ˈbaɪbəɫ/
UK/bˈaɪbəl/
Definition
n. the holy book of the Christian religion. It is also used to describe any very important book that gives all the information you need about a subject.
n. the sacred text of Christianity, comprising the Old and New Testaments. In a secular context, it refers to a comprehensive and authoritative handbook or guide for a specific field.
Examples
“He reads a chapter from the Bible every morning.”
“For many years, this thick manual was considered the bible of the automotive repair industry.”
“While primarily a religious text, the Bible has exerted a profound influence on Western literature, art, and law for nearly two millennia.”
Examples
simple
“He reads a chapter from the Bible every morning.”
contextual
“For many years, this thick manual was considered the bible of the automotive repair industry.”
complex
“While primarily a religious text, the Bible has exerted a profound influence on Western literature, art, and law for nearly two millennia.”
Usage
Capitalised when referring to the religious text; often written in lowercase when used metaphorically for a reference book.
Pitfall
I read Bible every day
I read the Bible every day
When referring to the religious text, it almost always requires the definite article 'the'.
Etymology
From Middle English bible, from Medieval Latin biblia (“book”) (misinterpreted as a feminine from earlier Latin neuter plural biblia (“books”)), from Ancient Greek βιβλία (biblía, “books”), plural of βιβλίον (biblíon, “small book”), originally a diminutive of βίβλος (bíblos, “book”), from βύβλος (búblos, “papyrus”) (from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported this writing material). Old English used biblioþēce (from βιβλιοθήκη) and ġewritu (whence English writs) for "the Scriptures".
From a Middle English diminutive of the given name Isabel.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Domains
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/bible