paperback

English

Etymology

paper +‎ back, a shortening of the older term paper-backed book.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpeɪ.pɚ.bæk/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

paperback (plural paperbacks)

1. A book with flexible binding.

Synonyms

• pocketbook (US), livre de poche (French contexts)

Derived terms

• trade paperback

Translations

book — see also pocketbook

• Afrikaans: sagteband
• Bulgarian: кни́га с ме́ки кори́ци (kníga s méki koríci)
• Dutch: paperback (nl) m
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: taskukirja (fi), pokkari (fi)
• French: livre broché m
• German: Broschur f
• Greek: χαρτόδετο βιβλίο n (chartódeto vivlío)
• Hindi: पत्रावरणबद्ध पुस्तक f (patrāvraṇbaddh pustak), पेपरबैक f (peparbaik)
• Icelandic: pappírskilja f
• Polish: miękka okładka f
• Portuguese: brochura f
• Russian: кни́га в мя́гкой обло́жке f (kníga v mjáxkoj oblóžke)
• Scottish Gaelic: còmhdach bog m
• Spanish: libro de bolsillo m, libro de tapa blanda m
• Swedish: pocket (sv) c, pocketbok (sv) c, häftad (sv)

Adjective

paperback (not comparable)

1. (of a book) Having flexible binding.

Synonyms

• paperbacked, paperbound, softcovered

Translations

having flexible binding

• Bulgarian: с меки корици (s meki korici)
• Catalan: en rústica
• Dutch: paperback (nl)
• Finnish: pehmeäkantinen, nidottu (fi)
• French: broché (fr)
• German: broschiert (de)
• Greek: χαρτόδετος (el) m (chartódetos)
• Hindi: पत्रावरणबद्ध (patrāvraṇbaddh)
• Hungarian: puha fedelű/kötésű, fűzött (hu), kartonált
• Tagalog: rustika

Verb

paperback (third-person singular simple present paperbacks, present participle paperbacking, simple past and past participle paperbacked)

1. (transitive, publishing) To issue or publish (a book) in a paperback edition.
   • 2009, J. Adamson, Max Reinhardt: A Life in Publishing, page 71:

     Max was anticipating paperbacking The Bodley Head's books in house rather than licensing the paperback rights to a third party, like Penguin, which reduced his royalties and might eventually lose him authors to vertical publishers.

See also

• hardback
• pocketbook
• softcover

 

References

• “paperback”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English paperback.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpeː.pərˌbɛk/, [ˈpeː.pəɹˌbɛk], [ˈpeː.pɚˌbɛk]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: pa‧per‧back

Noun

paperback m (plural paperbacks, diminutive paperbackje n)

1. A paperback.

Adjective

paperback (not comparable)

1. paperback

Inflection

Declension of paperback
uninflected	paperback
inflected	paperback
comparative	—
		positive
predicative/adverbial
indefinite	m./f. sing.	paperback
	n. sing.	paperback
	plural	paperback
definite		paperback
partitive