English edit

Etymology edit

An Anglicisation either of bibliotheca (from the Old English biblioþece) or of its etymon, the Latin bibliothēca (library”, “collection of books); compare French bibliothèque.

Noun edit

bibliothec (plural bibliothecs)

  1. (obsolete) A library.
    (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)
  2. A bibliographer’s catalogue.
    • 1708, George Mackenzie, The Lives and Characters of the moſt Eminent Writers of the Scots Nation, volume I, preface, page ii:
      But if they, who are of this Opinion, would but Reflect a little upon the Materials which the Learn’d Men of this Age have afforded by their Bibliothecs, Hiſtorical Dictionaries and Journals, they would quickly perceive their Miſtake. By their Bibliothecs I do not here mean their Libraries, but their Elaborate Compoſures Publiſh’d under that Title, ſuch as the New Eccleſiaſtical Bibliothec of M. Du Pin, wherein we have an Abſtract of all the Works of the Eccleſiaſtical Writers, who have liv’d ſince the Birth of our Saviour till the Beginning of the laſt Age; which truly is a Work of ſuch Labour and Learning, that it is deſervedly eſteem’d one of the beſt Eccleſiaſtical Hiſtories that ever the World had.