hardcovern.adj.
/ˈhɑːdkʌvə/, U.S. /ˈhɑrdˌkəvər/ Originally U.S.
A. n.
1. In form hard cover. A stiff cover in which a book, etc., is bound. Cf. hardback n. 2a.
ΚΠ
1912 in O. E. Remey et al. Attempted Assassination Ex-President T. Roosevelt (verso title page) A Library Edition of this book is in the hands of the printers and will be issued shortly. This edition will be bound in hard cover.
1930 N.Y. Times 2 Nov. (Book Reviews section) 14/4 (advt.) Crown Octavo, fine wove paper, hard cover, yellow and imperial purple.
1960 News Chron. 10 Jan. 3/7 The Heinemann group..published..an expurgated version of ‘Lady Chatterley’..in hard cover in this country.
2011 2012 Poet's Market 318/1 Obsessed with Pipework is 49–60 pages, A5, stapled, with hard cover.
2. A book, etc., bound in a stiff cover; a hardback.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > book > kind of book > book of specific form or colour > [noun] > with specific type of back or cover
blue book1633
green book1798
paperback1843
paper cover1843
yellowback1859
flat-back1888
greenback1893
paperbound1933
softback1951
hardback1953
hardcover1953
pocketbook1953
softcover1953
trade paperback1960
society > communication > book > parts of book > [noun] > cover > hard cover
hardcover1953
1953 N.Y. Times 18 May (Book review section) 8/2 It is the author who has experienced a measly 3,000-copy sale in hardcovers..who stands to gain.
1985 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 5 May 50/5 But the hardcover is now losing its commanding position to the paperback, particularly the trade paperback.
2004 Wall St. Jrnl. 12 Apr. (Central ed.) b1/2 A come-from-nowhere beach accessory that led the publisher to print 1.6 million hardcovers.
B. adj.
1. Of a book, etc.: bound in a stiff cover. Cf. hardback adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > book > kind of book > book of specific form or colour > [adjective] > having specific type of cover > hard
hard-covered1820
boarded1842
casebound1890
hardback1904
hardbacked1906
hardbound1906
hard-shelled1907
hardcover1939
hard-cased1951
1939 Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 31 July 48/5 (advt.) Get your hard-cover note books, fountain pens, inks.
1968 R. Bissell How many Miles to Galena? viii. 71 He sells..a complete line of hard-cover novels, nonfiction, and Alaska specialties.
1991 Advocate 15 Jan. 3 QPB softcover books are priced up to 60% less than their hardcover counterparts.
2010 S. Jones Mammoth Bk. Best New Horror 21 35 The novel was published..in a signed limited edition of 1000 hardcover copies.
2. Of or relating to a hardbacked book or hardbacked books.
ΚΠ
1948 Pop. Mech. Oct. 41 (advt.) Beautiful, lifetime hard-cover binding.
1957 Economist 5 Oct. 45/1 Critics of mass market publishing suspect that it spreads mediocrity, even to the hardcover business.
1960 News Chron. 10 Jan. 3/8 I would immediately bring out a hard-cover edition.
1985 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 5 May 50/7 The hardcover publishers' revitalisation of their paperback operations.
2005 Writer's Mag. Sept. 49/1 Pocket Books won a bidding war for the hardcover and paperback rights.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.adj.1912