"bookstave" meaning in English

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    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "book",
        "3": "stave"
      },
      "expansion": "book + stave",
      "name": "compound"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "no",
        "2": "bokstav"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian bokstav",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "bokstav"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish bokstav",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "bogstav"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish bogstav",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Buchstabe"
      },
      "expansion": "German Buchstabe",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "boekstaaf"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch boekstaaf",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English bocstaff, bocstaf (“letter; symbol; written character”), from Old English bōcstæf (“letter, written symbol”), from Proto-Germanic *bōkastabaz, equivalent to book + stave (inflected form of staff). Compare modern Norwegian bokstav, Swedish bokstav, Danish bogstav, modern German Buchstabe, modern Dutch boekstaaf.",
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    {
      "form": "bookstaves",
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
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          "word": "bookstaff"
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          "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": "quote"
        },
        {
          "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": "quote"
        },
        {
          "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": "quote"
        }
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        "Alternative form of bookstaff (“letter, alphabetic symbol”)"
      ],
      "id": "en-bookstave-en-noun-FT~3kgyC",
      "links": [
        [
          "bookstaff",
          "bookstaff#English"
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(rare or archaic) Alternative form of bookstaff (“letter, alphabetic symbol”)"
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  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbʊk.stɪv/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "bookstave"
}

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      "args": {
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        "2": "bokstav"
      },
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      "name": "cog"
    },
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        "2": "bokstav"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish bokstav",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "bogstav"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish bogstav",
      "name": "cog"
    },
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        "2": "boekstaaf"
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      "expansion": "Dutch boekstaaf",
      "name": "cog"
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  "etymology_text": "From Middle English bocstaff, bocstaf (“letter; symbol; written character”), from Old English bōcstæf (“letter, written symbol”), from Proto-Germanic *bōkastabaz, equivalent to book + stave (inflected form of staff). Compare modern Norwegian bokstav, Swedish bokstav, Danish bogstav, modern German Buchstabe, modern Dutch boekstaaf.",
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    {
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  "pos": "noun",
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          "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": "quote"
        },
        {
          "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": "quote"
        },
        {
          "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": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of bookstaff (“letter, alphabetic symbol”)"
      ],
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        "(rare or archaic) Alternative form of bookstaff (“letter, alphabetic symbol”)"
      ],
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    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbʊk.stɪv/"
    }
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  "word": "bookstave"
}