li·brar·y

[lahy-brer-ee, -bruh-ree, -bree]
noun, plural li·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.
canon1 ( def 9 ).
9.
Computers. a collection of software or data usually reflecting a specific theme or application.

Origin:
1300–50; Middle English libraire < Middle French librairie < Medieval Latin librāria, noun use of feminine of Latin librārius (adj.) of books, equivalent to lib(e)r book + -ārius -ary

in·ter·li·brar·y, adjective


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. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To libraries
00:10
Libraries is always a great word to know.
So is gobo. Does it mean:
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
Collins
World English Dictionary
library (ˈlaɪbrərɪ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n , pl -braries
1.  a room or set of rooms where books and other literary materials are kept
2.  a collection of literary materials, films, CDs, children's toys, etc, kept for borrowing or reference
3.  the building or institution that houses such a collection: a public library
4.  a set of books published as a series, often in a similar format
5.  computing a collection of standard programs and subroutines for immediate use, usually stored on disk or some other storage device
6.  a collection of specific items for reference or checking against: a library of genetic material
 
[C14: from Old French librairie, from Medieval Latin librāris, n use of Latin librārius relating to books, from liber book]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

library
late 14c., 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." O.E. had bochord, lit. "book hord."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary

library definition


  1. n.
    a bathroom; an outhouse. (Not a public restroom.) : John is in the library at the moment.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
Around them are dormitories with cafeterias, karaoke rooms, libraries and
  basketball courts.
Reading trends, economics, and psychology have so aligned as to keep this group
  of readers in libraries and bookstores.
If that were so, libraries would have put bookstores out of business.
Details services to local libraries, state and local government and the public.
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT