bibliophile:

(plural: ‘bibliophiles‘; pronunciation: the letters ‘ph’ as said with an ‘f’ sound as in “father”)

This word has nothing to do with the Bible, either in meaning or in pronunciation — the letters ‘bi’ rhyme with the letters ‘bi’ in “biscuit”; in the word “Bible”, however, the letters ‘bi’ rhyme with the letter ‘bi’ in “bicycle”.

a person who loves books, and likes reading and collecting books; a bookworm,

Adolf Hitler, a great bibliophile

e.g.

Adolf Hitler of the Nazi Germany is known to be a bibliophile.

Sir Ahmed Salmon Rushdie is a controversial writer and great bibliophile.

Though one of the characteristics of a bibliophile is to collect books, most bibliophiles cannot collect a lot of books for different reasons, such as lack of sources, funds and enough room to display them.

Language Study: The other words with ‘phile’ are: ‘Anglophile‘, a person who likes English language and the English culture; ’pedophile‘, a grown-up person who likes to have sex with young children; ‘necrophile‘, a person who likes to have sex with dead bodies; etc.
“Bibliomania”, on the other hand, is a medical condition of too much fondness for owning books, and ‘bibliomaniac’ is a person who suffers from ‘bibliomania’, usually used in a negative sense.
For an interesting article on bibliophile, please click here.

Return to “necrophile“.     Return to “reader“.     Return to “bookworm“.

About the Author:BC Kumar

BC Kumar, an English Language Teacher, taught in numerous countries including Ethiopia, Oman and India, shares his knowledge and passion for the English Language. Disclaimer: This is a free educational website and all content has been compiled by the author. All copyrights to images and videos belong to their respective owners.

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