See bookstaff in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for bookstaff meaning in English (5.5kB)
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*stebʰ-"
},
"expansion": "",
"name": "root"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "bocstaff",
"t": "letter, written character"
},
"expansion": "Middle English bocstaff (“letter, written character”)",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "bōcstæf",
"t": "letter, written symbol"
},
"expansion": "Old English bōcstæf (“letter, written symbol”)",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gmw-pro",
"3": "*bōkstab"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *bōkstab",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*bōkstabaz",
"t": "beechwood staff; written character"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *bōkstabaz (“beechwood staff; written character”)",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "book",
"3": "staff"
},
"expansion": "book + staff",
"name": "com"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "stq",
"2": "Boukstäf"
},
"expansion": "Saterland Frisian Boukstäf",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "nds-de",
"2": "Bookstaav"
},
"expansion": "German Low German Bookstaav",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Buchstabe"
},
"expansion": "German Buchstabe",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "da",
"2": "bogstav"
},
"expansion": "Danish bogstav",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "bokstav"
},
"expansion": "Swedish bokstav",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "nb",
"2": "bokstav"
},
"expansion": "Norwegian Bokmål bokstav",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "nn",
"2": "bokstav"
},
"expansion": "Norwegian Nynorsk bokstav",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "fo",
"2": "bókstavur"
},
"expansion": "Faroese bókstavur",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "is",
"2": "bókstafur"
},
"expansion": "Icelandic bókstafur",
"name": "cog"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From Middle English bocstaff (“letter, written character”), from Old English bōcstæf (“letter, written symbol”), from Proto-West Germanic *bōkstab, from Proto-Germanic *bōkstabaz (“beechwood staff; written character”). Equivalent to book + staff. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Boukstäf, German Low German Bookstaav, German Buchstabe, Danish bogstav, Swedish bokstav, Norwegian Bokmål bokstav, Norwegian Nynorsk bokstav, Faroese bókstavur, Icelandic bókstafur. Likely a semi-revival of the Old English term.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "bookstaves",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
},
{
"form": "bookstaffs",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "bookstaves",
"2": "s"
},
"expansion": "bookstaff (plural bookstaves or bookstaffs)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1870, The American Educational Monthly - Volume 7, page 449",
"text": "Brother Ormin cautions transcribers to follow his spelling exactly —And tat he looke well that he (And that he look well that he), An bookstaff write tweis (A letter write twice), Eywhere then it upo this book (Wherever then it upon this book) Is written o that wise (Is written on that wise), For he ne may nought elles (For he may not else) On English writen right te word (In English write right the word).",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1884, The Builder, volume 46",
"text": "As the “bookstaff” had vanished before the littera, another substance had to be employed for the purpose of writing, and the skins of animals, properly prepared and called bók fell, or book skins, appeared.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1932, Seumas O'Sullivan, The Dublin magazine",
"text": "This is Aleph, says Isaac ; the first bookstaff in the grammatic.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1976, Poétique, page 217",
"text": "This place of endearment! How it is clear! How they cast their spells upon, the fronds that thereup float, the bookstaffs branchings!",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2011, Terrence J. White, My Joy in the Morning",
"text": "Here I sit with a pencil and pad / Pouring out my ideas / Making bookstaff images of ideas I've had / Write down the vision and make it plain / So that all who pass by can catch it / Well A B C - 1 2 3 […]",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2018, Christopher Ocker, Luther, Conflict, and Christendom",
"text": "[…] “[Doctor Martin] had undercut the pope, cardinals, and the great bishops, ... he had proved they could not offer so much as a bookstave from holy scripture to prove that their great power and lordship were based on God's command.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2019, James Meek, To Calais, In Ordinary Time",
"text": "'I can't read bookstaves, but Holiday learned himself,' said Softly. […] 'He learned me a bare five bookstaves, but it was enough to read a whole word.'",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2020, D. Vance Smith, Arts of Dying, page 43",
"text": "The poetic dialogue between Solomon and Saturn not only calls the rune for R the “best of bookstaves” (bocstafa brego), but it also spells out the Pater Noster, acrostically with runes, […]",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"letter, letter of the alphabet, a written character."
],
"id": "en-bookstaff-en-noun-hcH7i7pn",
"links": [
[
"letter",
"letter"
],
[
"alphabet",
"alphabet"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(rare or archaic) letter, letter of the alphabet, a written character."
],
"related": [
{
"word": "runestaff"
},
{
"word": "runestave"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "bookstave"
}
],
"tags": [
"archaic",
"rare"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈbʊkˌstæf/"
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈbʊk.stɪf/"
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈbʊk.stɑːf/"
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈbʊk.stəf/"
}
],
"word": "bookstaff"
}
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*stebʰ-"
},
"expansion": "",
"name": "root"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "bocstaff",
"t": "letter, written character"
},
"expansion": "Middle English bocstaff (“letter, written character”)",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "bōcstæf",
"t": "letter, written symbol"
},
"expansion": "Old English bōcstæf (“letter, written symbol”)",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gmw-pro",
"3": "*bōkstab"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *bōkstab",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*bōkstabaz",
"t": "beechwood staff; written character"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *bōkstabaz (“beechwood staff; written character”)",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "book",
"3": "staff"
},
"expansion": "book + staff",
"name": "com"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "stq",
"2": "Boukstäf"
},
"expansion": "Saterland Frisian Boukstäf",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "nds-de",
"2": "Bookstaav"
},
"expansion": "German Low German Bookstaav",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Buchstabe"
},
"expansion": "German Buchstabe",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "da",
"2": "bogstav"
},
"expansion": "Danish bogstav",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "bokstav"
},
"expansion": "Swedish bokstav",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "nb",
"2": "bokstav"
},
"expansion": "Norwegian Bokmål bokstav",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "nn",
"2": "bokstav"
},
"expansion": "Norwegian Nynorsk bokstav",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "fo",
"2": "bókstavur"
},
"expansion": "Faroese bókstavur",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "is",
"2": "bókstafur"
},
"expansion": "Icelandic bókstafur",
"name": "cog"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From Middle English bocstaff (“letter, written character”), from Old English bōcstæf (“letter, written symbol”), from Proto-West Germanic *bōkstab, from Proto-Germanic *bōkstabaz (“beechwood staff; written character”). Equivalent to book + staff. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Boukstäf, German Low German Bookstaav, German Buchstabe, Danish bogstav, Swedish bokstav, Norwegian Bokmål bokstav, Norwegian Nynorsk bokstav, Faroese bókstavur, Icelandic bókstafur. Likely a semi-revival of the Old English term.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "bookstaves",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
},
{
"form": "bookstaffs",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "bookstaves",
"2": "s"
},
"expansion": "bookstaff (plural bookstaves or bookstaffs)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"related": [
{
"word": "runestaff"
},
{
"word": "runestave"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English 2-syllable words",
"English compound terms",
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English nouns with irregular plurals",
"English terms derived from Middle English",
"English terms derived from Old English",
"English terms derived from Proto-Germanic",
"English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
"English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic",
"English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *stebʰ-",
"English terms inherited from Middle English",
"English terms inherited from Old English",
"English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic",
"English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with archaic senses",
"English terms with quotations",
"English terms with rare senses",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1870, The American Educational Monthly - Volume 7, page 449",
"text": "Brother Ormin cautions transcribers to follow his spelling exactly —And tat he looke well that he (And that he look well that he), An bookstaff write tweis (A letter write twice), Eywhere then it upo this book (Wherever then it upon this book) Is written o that wise (Is written on that wise), For he ne may nought elles (For he may not else) On English writen right te word (In English write right the word).",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1884, The Builder, volume 46",
"text": "As the “bookstaff” had vanished before the littera, another substance had to be employed for the purpose of writing, and the skins of animals, properly prepared and called bók fell, or book skins, appeared.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1932, Seumas O'Sullivan, The Dublin magazine",
"text": "This is Aleph, says Isaac ; the first bookstaff in the grammatic.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1976, Poétique, page 217",
"text": "This place of endearment! How it is clear! How they cast their spells upon, the fronds that thereup float, the bookstaffs branchings!",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2011, Terrence J. White, My Joy in the Morning",
"text": "Here I sit with a pencil and pad / Pouring out my ideas / Making bookstaff images of ideas I've had / Write down the vision and make it plain / So that all who pass by can catch it / Well A B C - 1 2 3 […]",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2018, Christopher Ocker, Luther, Conflict, and Christendom",
"text": "[…] “[Doctor Martin] had undercut the pope, cardinals, and the great bishops, ... he had proved they could not offer so much as a bookstave from holy scripture to prove that their great power and lordship were based on God's command.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2019, James Meek, To Calais, In Ordinary Time",
"text": "'I can't read bookstaves, but Holiday learned himself,' said Softly. […] 'He learned me a bare five bookstaves, but it was enough to read a whole word.'",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2020, D. Vance Smith, Arts of Dying, page 43",
"text": "The poetic dialogue between Solomon and Saturn not only calls the rune for R the “best of bookstaves” (bocstafa brego), but it also spells out the Pater Noster, acrostically with runes, […]",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"letter, letter of the alphabet, a written character."
],
"links": [
[
"letter",
"letter"
],
[
"alphabet",
"alphabet"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(rare or archaic) letter, letter of the alphabet, a written character."
],
"tags": [
"archaic",
"rare"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈbʊkˌstæf/"
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈbʊk.stɪf/"
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈbʊk.stɑːf/"
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈbʊk.stəf/"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "bookstave"
}
],
"word": "bookstaff"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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