Library definition | Dictionary.com

li⋅brar⋅y

[lahy-brer-ee, -bruh-ree, -bree]

–noun, plural -brar⋅ies.

1.	a place set apart to contain books, periodicals, and other material for reading, viewing, listening, study, or reference, as a room, set of rooms, or building where books may be read or borrowed.

2.	a public body organizing and maintaining such an establishment.

3.	a collection of manuscripts, publications, and other materials for reading, viewing, listening, study, or reference.

4.	a collection of any materials for study and enjoyment, as films, musical recordings, or maps.

5.	a commercial establishment lending books for a fixed charge; a lending library.

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

7.	Biology. a collection of standard materials or formulations by which specimens are identified.

8.	canon ¹ (def. 9).

9.	Computers. a collection of software or data usually reflecting a specific theme or application.

Origin:
1300–50; ME libraire < MF librairie < ML librāria, n. use of fem. of L librārius (adj.) of books, equiv. to lib(e)r book + -ārius -ary

Pronunciation note:
Library, with one r-sound following close upon another, is particularly vulnerable to the process of dissimilation—the tendency for neighboring like sounds to become unlike, or for one of them to disappear altogether. The pronunciation [lahy-brer-ee]

, therefore, while still the most common, is frequently reduced by educated speakers, both in the U.S. and in England, to the dissimilated [lahy-buh-ree] or [lahy-bree]. A third dissimilated form [lahy-ber-ee] is more likely to be heard from less educated or very young speakers, and is often criticized. See colonel, February, governor.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To Library

li·brar·y (lī'brěr'ē)

n. pl. li·brar·ies

1. A place in which literary and artistic materials, such as books, periodicals, newspapers, pamphlets, prints, records, and tapes, are kept for reading, reference, or lending.
2. A collection of such materials, especially when systematically arranged.
3. A room in a private home for such a collection.
4. An institution or foundation maintaining such a collection.
A commercial establishment that lends books for a fee.
A series or set of books issued by a publisher.
A collection of recorded data or tapes arranged for ease of use.
A set of things similar to a library in appearance, function, or organization: a library of computer programs.
Genetics A collection of cloned DNA sequences whose location and identity can be established by mapping the genome of a particular organism.

[Middle English librarie, from Anglo-Norman, from Latin librārium, bookcase, from neuter of librārius, of books, from liber, libr-, book.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Library

Li"bra*ry\ (l[imac]"br[asl]*r[y^]), n.; pl. Libraries (-r[i^]z). [OE. librairie, F. librairie bookseller's shop, book trade, formerly, a library, fr. libraire bookseller, L. librarius, from liber book; cf. libraria bookseller's shop, librarium bookcase, It. libreria. See Libel.]

1. A considerable collection of books kept for use, and not as merchandise; as, a private library; a public library.

2. A building or apartment appropriated for holding such a collection of books. --Holland.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : Library

Spanish: biblioteca,

German: die Bücherei,

Japanese: 図書館

More Translations »

library

c.1374, from Anglo-Fr. librarie, from O.Fr. librairie "collection of books," noun use of adj. librarius "concerning books," from L. librarium "chest for books," from liber (gen. libri) "book, paper, parchment," originally "the inner bark of trees," probably a derivative of PIE base *leub(h)- "to strip, to peel" (see leaf). The equivalent word in most Romance languages now means "bookseller's shop." Librarian is from 1713; earlier form was library-keeper (1647).

Main Entry: li·brary
Pronunciation: 'lI-"brer-E
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -brar·ies
: a collection of clonedDNA fragments that are maintained in a suitable cellular environment and that represent the genetic material of a particular organism or tissue library of human DNAinto yeast cells —Science News>

library programming, library
A collection of subroutines and functions stored in one or more files, usually in compiled form, for linking with other programs. Libraries are one of the earliest forms of organised code reuse. They are often supplied by the operating system or software development environment developer to be used in many different programs. The routines in a library may be general purpose or designed for some specific function such as three dimensional animated graphics.
Libraries are linked with the user's program to form a complete executable. The linking may be static linking or, in some systems, dynamic linking.
(1998-11-21)

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