incunabula

[ in-kyoo-nab-yuh-luh, ing- ]
See synonyms for: incunabulaincunabulum on Thesaurus.com

plural noun,singular in·cu·nab·u·lum [in-kyoo-nab-yuh-luhm, ing-]. /ˌɪn kyʊˈnæb yə ləm, ˌɪŋ-/.
  1. extant copies of books produced in the earliest stages (before 1501) of printing from movable type.

  2. the earliest stages or first traces of anything.

Origin of incunabula

1
First recorded in 1815–25; from Latin: “straps holding a baby in a cradle, earliest home, birthplace,” probably equivalent to unattested *incūnā(re) “to place in a cradle” (in- in-2 + unattested -cūnāre, verbal derivative of cūnae “cradle”) + -bula, plural of -bulum suffix of instrument; def. 1 as translation of German Wiegendrucke

Other words from incunabula

  • in·cu·nab·u·lar, adjective
  • post·in·cu·nab·u·la, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for incunabula

incunabula

/ (ˌɪnkjʊˈnæbjʊlə) /


pl nsingular -lum (-ləm)
  1. any book printed before 1501

  2. the infancy or earliest stages of something; beginnings

Origin of incunabula

1
C19: from Latin, originally: swaddling clothes, hence beginnings, from in- ² + cūnābula cradle

Derived forms of incunabula

  • incunabular, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012