Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Book, in my words

liboc : book

The Illunse word for book is liboc. Liboc is a district of the city of Prague in the Czech Republic.

This word is a mixture of the Latin word for book which is libellus (little book, a notebook, diary; a memorial; petition; pamphlet), and the Old English word for book which is bóc (a book, a document, register, catalog; a legal document; literary work).

There's another Latin word, codex, that means book, especially a book made up of wooden tablets covered with wax (imagine the weight!). In Modern English usage a codex is list of canons or formulas, or a manuscript of some ancient classic.

No comments: