| 释义 |
▪ I. library1|ˈlaɪbrərɪ|
Also 4–7 librarie, 5 lyberary, 6 liberary, librarye. β. 4–5 librair(e, Sc. librar.
[a. F. librairie (1380 in Godefroy), now only in sense ‘bookseller's shop’ = It. Sp. libreria, Pg. livraria, repr. Com. Rom. *librarīa (with suffix -īa, -y), f. L. librāri-um (F. libraire bookseller), subst. use of librārius adj., concerned with or employed about books, f. libr-, liber book, believed to be a use of liber bark (see liber), the bark of trees having, according to Roman tradition, been used in early times as a writing material. Late L. librāria (sc. taberna) occurs with the sense ‘bookseller's shop’.
The Rom. word admits of being viewed as f. libro book + -arīa, but this leaves the ultimate analysis unaltered.]
1. A place set apart to contain books for reading, study, or reference. (Not applied, e.g. to the shop or warehouse of a bookseller.) In various applications more or less specific.
a. Applied to a room in a house, etc.; also, † a bookcase. In mod. use, the designation of one of the set of rooms ordinarily belonging to an English house above a certain level of size and pretension.
c1374Chaucer Boeth. i. pr. v. 15 (Camb. MS.) The walles of thi lybrarye aparayled and wrowht with yuory and with glas. 1430–40Lydg. Bochas vi. i. (1554) 142 Bochas pensief stode in his library. 1488Inventory in Archæologia XLV. 120 On the south side of the Vestrarie standeth a grete library. 1779M. Tyson in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 195, I there saw his library, i.e. the Room which once contained his Books. 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho i, The library occupied the west side of the chateau. 1854W. Collins Hide & Seek ii. ii. (1861) 161 Zack descended cautiously to the back parlour, which was called a ‘library’.
b. A building, room, or set of rooms, containing a collection of books for the use of the public or of some particular portion of it, or of the members of some society or the like; a public institution or establishment, charged with the care of a collection of books, and the duty of rendering the books accessible to those who require to use them.
For lending, reference library, see those words. free library, a library which the public are permitted to use without payment, esp. one maintained by a municipality out of the rates.
c1449Pecock Repr. i. vi. 30 In caas a greet clerk wolde go into a librarie and ouer studie there a long proces of feith writun in the Bible. 1530Palsgr. 35 A boke in the library of Gyldehall in London. 1637Decree Star Chamb. in Milton's Areop. (Arb.) 23 To be Sent to the Librarie at Oxford. 1708Act 7 Anne c. 14 §1 Whereas of late Years several Charitable..Persons have..erected Libraries within several Parishes and Districts. 1847Howitt's Jrnl. I. 119/1 A scheme of free libraries. By Dr. Smiles. Ibid. 119/2 Samuel Brown, the author of the system of Free Libraries, (or, as he styled them, ‘Itinerating Libraries’,) was a merchant of the small town of Haddington. 1850Act 13 & 14 Vict. c. 65 §7 That Admission to such Libraries and Museums [established by Town Councils] shall be free of all Charge. 1850Manch. Guardian 28 Dec., A Free Library and Museum for Manchester. 1855Act 18 & 19 Vict. c. 70, An Act for further promoting the Establishment of Free Public Libraries and Museums in Municipal Towns. 1900G. C. Brodrick Mem. 210 The Merton library is..the oldest specimen of mediæval libraries in England. 1902Daily Chron. 4 Mar. 3/2 These things are surely axioms to the free-library reader. 1960M. Sharp Something Light vi. 49 The meeting-place for intellectuals was the Free Library.
c. (More fully, circulating library.) A private commercial establishment for the lending of books, the borrower paying either a fixed sum for each book lent or a periodical subscription.
‘These are of two kinds: the establishments on a large scale that issue books to subscribers all over the country, and the smaller establishment, usually in the hands of a bookseller, which circulate among local subscribers books either kept in stock or borrowed from one of the larger ‘libraries’. In watering-places, the ‘libraries’ sometimes have reading-rooms attached, and were formerly places of social resort (cf. quots. 1835). In the West end of London some of the ‘libraries’ act as agencies for the sale of tickets for places of amusement.’ (N.E.D.)
1835Dickens Sk. Boz, Tales i. (1892) 261 The ‘dear girls’..had been at different watering-places for four seasons; they had gambled at libraries,..sold at fancy fairs [etc.]. Ibid. iv. 325 The library [at Ramsgate] was crowded. There were the same ladies and the same gentlemen who had been on the sands in the morning. Mod. Advt., Now ready at all the libraries, Mr. ―'s great novel, ―.
d. A theatre-ticket agency.
1827W. Clarke Every Night Bk. 108 It is..necessary..to procure tickets of admission prior to the opening of the doors: they may be had at the libraries of Ebers, or Andrews, in old Bond Street. 1902W. H. Chantrey Theatre Accounts i. 7 The next source of income is derived from Library Bookings. It is usual for the management of a Theatre to allow a discount of from 5 to 10 per cent. upon seats booked by Libraries. 1959Financial Times 23 June, The word ‘library’ is used in the trade to designate a central source of tickets—a ‘ticket wholesaler’ might be a better term. 1973Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 28 Oct. 101/1 Ticket agencies..are..organised in the Combined Libraries Association (‘library’ is theatrical term for ticket agency).
2. a. The books contained in a ‘library’ (sense 1); ‘a large collection of books, public or private’ (J.).
13..S. Erkenwolde 155 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 269 We haue oure librarie laitid þes longe seuene dayes. a1540Barnes Wks. (1573) 195/1 Let all the Liberaries bee sought in England. 1613R. C. Table Alph. (ed. 3), Librarie..a great number of books. 1760tr. Keysler's Trav. III. 52 Cardinal Brancaccio has bequeathed a good library to this church. 1838Thirlwall Greece II. 64 Pisistratus..is said to have been the first person in Greece who collected a library. 1872Yeats Techn. Hist. Comm. 373 In universities, as well as in cloisters, libraries were very small.
β1390Gower Conf. I. 14 And slouthe kepeth the libraire Which longeth to the Saintuaire. c1420Pallad. on Husb. Prol. 96 In deskis xij hymselue, as half a strete, Hath boked thair librair vniuersal. 1513Douglas æneis i. Prol. 100 (Comment) Ptolome..gadderit togidder in ane librar xxxvj thousand volummys. 1580Extracts Burgh Rec. Edinb. (1882) IV. 183 marg., New librare.
b. Often used in the titles given by publishers to a series or set of books uniform or similar in external appearance, and ostensibly suited for some particular class of readers or for students of a particular subject, as in ‘The Library of Useful Knowledge’ (1826–1856), ‘The Parlour Library’ (consisting of novels, 1847–1863), ‘Bohn's Standard Library’, etc. Formerly also in the titles of bibliographical works, and of periodicals.
1692(title) The Compleat Library: or News for the Ingenious. Containing Several Original Pieces. An Historical Account of the Choicest Books Printed... Notes on the Memorable Passages happening in May. As also the State of Learning in the World. To be Published Monthly. 1713[A catalogue of books.] The Student's Library: a choice Collection of Books, In all Faculties and Parts of Learning. 1714(title) The Ladies Library. Vol. I. Written by a Lady. Published by Mr. Steele. 1844A. W. Kinglake Eothen xviii. 282 The books were thorough-bred Scotch... He prided himself upon the ‘Edinburgh Cabinet Library’. 1974British Bks. in Print I. p. ccxxvi/1 Home University Library. Oxf. U.P.
c. transf. and fig.; esp. used to denote (a) a great mass of learning or knowledge; (b) the objects of a person's study, the sources on which he depends for instruction. In quot. 1523 = a catalogue, list.
a1450Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.) 88 We xal lerne ȝow the lyberary of oure Lordys law lyght. c1485Digby Myst. (1882) v. 227 The lybrary of reason must be vnclosed. 1523Skelton Garl. Laurel 780 Of all ladyes he hath the library Ther names recountyng in the court of Fame. 1549Compl. Scot. Ep. Ded. 7, I began to reuolue the librarye of my vndirstanding. 1570Dee Math. Pref. 27 One Drop of Truth..more worth then whole Libraries of Opinions. 1654Trapp Comm. Ezra vii. 6 Ye may be as learned as Tostatus..who was a living library. 1665Boyle Occas. Refl. (1848) 74 Able to make the world both his Library and his Oratory. 1686J. Dunton Lett. fr. New Eng. (1867) 75, I darken his Merits if I call him less than a Walking Library. a1703Burkitt On N.T. Matt. xxiii. 7 These Pharisees were for carrying a library of God's law on their clothes, scarce a letter of it in their hearts. 1883J. Hawthorne Dust I. 104 Cards and men formed the library of the Duchess of Marlborough.
(c) A collection of films, gramophone records, music, etc.
1926–7Army & Navy Stores Catal. 1095 Circulating library for music rolls. Arrangements can be made..for Members to subscribe to a Player Roll Library. 1937Amer. Speech XII. 47/1 Library, collection of sheet music. 1957B.B.C. Handbk. 101 Some types of material are recorded specially for the library, as for example, folk-music, dialect, natural history, and sound effects. 1962H. Orton Survey Eng. Dial. Introd. 20 The British Broadcasting Corporation's Permanent Sound-Record Library. 1969Listener 12 June 836/3 Proms are no longer..regarded as the poor man's record library. 1974Guardian 26 Mar. 32/3 The transcription service..provides a library of BBC programmes on slow-speed recordings. 1974Times 7 Oct. 13/4 Borrowers frequently make tape-recordings..from the material borrowed and can thus acquire..an extensive library of recorded music without paying the composer a penny.
3. Computers. An organized collection of routines, esp. of tested routines suitable for a particular model of computer.
1950Proc. R. Soc. A. CCII. 576 It is convenient to have a ‘library’ containing sub-routines for performing such standard operations as the evaluation of a sine, or a scalar product. 1951Ibid. CCVI. 539 There are..some eighty sub-routines in the EDSAC library. 1951Math. Tables & Other Aids to Computation V. 46 Routines for solving standard problems will be established on tape and stored in a ‘library’. 1958Oxf. Mag. 29 May 469/1 Their ‘library’ consists of ‘routines’, ‘sub-routines’, and even ‘quickies’, programmes already existing and tested. Ibid., As the library grows in extent, programming for new problems becomes easier. 1964F. L. Westwater Electronic Computers ix. 143 Soon, ‘libraries’ of standard subroutines were available for each particular computer. 1966A. Battersby Math. in Managem. viii. 195 Standard computing routines are always available for widely-used techniques such as network analyses or linear programming, and the range over which they extend is constantly widening. They are often referred to as ‘library programs’ or under the general term ‘software’. 1967Technology Week 23 Jan. 11/2 (Advt.), Software for Sigma 5 includes..a library of mathematical, business and utility routines.
4. attrib., as library apartments, library book, library card, library centre, library chair, library committee, library company, library desk, library door, library house, library material, library room, library stairs, library stamp, library style, library table, library ticket; library binding, a special strong binding of books for lending libraries; library edition, an edition of good size and print and strongly bound, spec. a uniform edition of a writer's works; also (quot. 1917) an edition of a newspaper for depositing in certain libraries; library frame, glasses, spectacles, spectacles with heavy frames suitable for use when reading; † library-keeper, a librarian; library shot (see quot.); library steps, a step-ladder for use in libraries; library tax, the obligation imposed by law on publishers to supply gratis a copy or copies of the books published by them to certain public libraries.
1832G. Downes Lett. Cont. Countries I. 486 One of the *library apartments is handsomely adorned with statues.
1903J. D. Brown Man. Libr. Econ. xxvi. 333 The principal leathers for public *library bindings are pig-skin, Persian and Levant moroccos, and roan. 1952W. McGill in Library World Dec. LIV. 90 (heading) A note on how some publishers produced reinforced or special library bindings for public libraries nearly 50 years ago.
1863‘G. Hamilton’ Gala-Days 146 There was the long service, Sunday school and *library books. 1916A. Bennett Lion's Share xxiv. 180 The women play golf all day on that appalling golf course, and then after tea they go into the town to change their library books. 1973K. Giles File on Death iii. 66 My old girl retires to bed around eight, with her library book.
1966A. Sachs Jail Diary xviii. 164 The station commander..has spoken to his wife and she doesn't mind if I use one of the family's *library cards.
1960Library Assoc. Rec. Aug. 261/2 A *library centre is a static service-point, whether or not under the control of paid staff, which does not comply with the definitions for full-time or part-time branches.
1883Heal & Son Catal. 181 Dining room and *library chairs. 1970Country Life 31 Dec. 16/2 (Advt.), William IV mahogany library chair upholstered in antiqued Havana brown leather.
1831Congress. Rec. 7 Feb. 618 It was referred to the *Library Committee. 1965D. Davinson Academic & Legal Deposit Libr. ii. 24 All British universities have a library committee formed from the Senate or similar body.
1745B. Franklin Let. 11 Dec. in Writings (1905) II. 296 Our *Library Company sends for about twenty pounds sterling worth of books yearly. 1837W. Jenkins Ohio Gazetteer 99 The public institutions are a bank, a library company and a mechanics society.
1895M. A. Jackson Mem. Stonewall Jackson (ed. 2) xi. 197 Between them is a *library desk.
1861J. Edmond Children's Ch. at Home iii. 49 A gentle tap at the *library door.
1869Geo. Eliot Let. 19 Feb. (1956) V. 16 Ticknor and Field have intimated some intention to bring out a *library edition of all my books. 1917Times 2 July 1 (top right-hand corner) Library Edition. 1939A. Huxley Let. 19 Feb. (1969) 440 The idea of a library edition makes me feel most horribly posthumous. 1960S. Unwin Truth about a Publisher x. 150 They were..available only in the huge 38-volume Library Edition.
1948Optical Practitioner II. vi. p. vi (Advt.), Frames of unusual design specially made... The ‘London’ *Library frame. 1962L. S. Sasieni Princ. & Pract. Optical Dispensing i. 10 The heavy frame..is often called a ‘library’ frame. 1971W. Garner Andra Fiasco ix. 56 She stared at him, reaching for a pair of library-frame glasses.
1959A.O.P. News 31 Dec. 9/1 Modern spectacles for men, such as *library glasses..can give the wearer a distinguished appearance.
1837W. Jenkins Ohio Gazetteer 281 The *library house is a handsome brick edifice.
1647Trapp Comm. Rom. iii. 2 This was their prime privilege, that they [the Jews] were God's *library-keepers. 1743Birch Life Boyle Wks. 1772 I. p. lvi, Dr. Thomas Barlow, then chief library-keeper of the Bodleian Library.
1962Listener 16 Aug. 259/2 John Elliot's production adroitly wove the tropical *library material among the studio scenes.
1785Boswell Tour Hebrides 61 At the college there is a good *library-room.
1953K. Reisz Technique Film Editing 280 *Library shot, shot used in a film but not recorded specially for it; shot taken from a library or store of shots kept for future use.
1962Listener 22 Feb. 346/1 The other, the one with the *library spectacles, also lowered his paper. 1962Gloss. Ophthalmic Lenses & Spectacle Frames (B.S.I.) 58 Library spectacles, spectacles of heavy weight with broad sides and usually of tortoiseshell or plastics.
1598–9in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 482 The seelinge of the *Library staires.
1861Catal. Cathedral Libr. Calcutta App. 120 To stamp the title page and other parts of each volume with the *Library-stamp.
c1762Ince & Mayhew Universal Syst. Houshold Furnit. 3/1 (heading) Plate XXII. Two Designs of *Library Steps; the First intended for a large Room. 1793T. Sheraton Cabinet-Maker & Upholsterer's Drawing-Bk. App. 9 There are other kinds of library steps which I have seen, made by other persons, but..these must have the decided preference. 1848Thackeray Pendennis (1849) I. iii. 24 He would sit..perched upon the topmost bar of Doctor Portman's library steps with a folio on his knees. 1970B. Cartland Secret Fear i. 5 He would notice the rosewood library steps below the place in the cabinet from which the book had been extracted.
1952Vision VI. iii. 15/2 (caption) Heavy semi-rimless *library style in dark mottled material.
1741in Publ. Colonial Soc. Mass. (1925) XVI. 712 [The cross table was] compos'd of three *Library Tables. 1853Geo. Eliot Let. 29 Oct. (1954) II. 121, I wish to exchange my present one [sc. bookcase] for a Library Table, of which I am sorely in need. 1969Canad. Antiques Collector Dec. 9/1 One of the most remarkable series of library tables (bureaux plats) to be found anywhere. 1971Country Life 10 June Suppl. 52 (Advt.), A rare small George III library table with pull-out steps, reading top and two slides, constructed with fine quality solid mahogany. Height 32{pp}. Circa 1790.
1877M. W. Chapman in H. Martineau Autobiogr. III. 63 Heaps of concert tickets, museum tickets, *library tickets. 1950O. Blakeston Pink Ribbon vi. 72 Amelia lent me her library tickets. 1965C. Fremlin Jealous One xiv. 110 The usual contents of a hand-bag—comb, purse, powder compact, cheque book, library ticket.
Hence ˈlibraryize v. trans. (nonce-wd.), to place in a library; ˈlibraryless a., without a library.
1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iii. xviii. 199 Once a dunce, void of learning but full of Books, flouted a library-lesse Scholar with these words. 1796Coleridge Biog. Lit. (1847) II. 361 If you see nothing in it [Beddoes's Essay] to library-ize it, send it me back next Thursday.
▪ II. † library2 Obs.
In 4 pl. librarijs.
[ad. L. librāri-us: see librarian.]
A scribe.
1382Wyclif Esther viii. 9 The scribis and the librarijs [1388 writeris, Vulg. librariis] of the king. |