bible

/ˈbaɪbəl//ˈbaɪbəl/

bible is the alternative letter-case form of Bible.

bible is the ellipsis of pitch bible.

Noun (1)

bible (plural bibles)

(broadly) A comprehensive manual that describes something, or a publication with a loyal readership; a foundational text.
- handyman’s bible
- K&R is considered the bible of C programming
A binder containing copies of the most important documents for a particular matter.
- Could you please add these to the case bible?
Synonym of holystone: a piece of sandstone used for scouring wooden decks on ships.

Synonyms:

holystone
(at certain US universities) A compilation of problems and solutions from previous years of a given course, used by some students to cheat on tests or assignments.
- My friend’s a genius, he will give me problems one through nine. The bible of a sophomore will have the needed lines.1965, Matt Fichtenbaum, Dan Murphy, “The Institute Screw”, in The Broadside of Boston, volume III, number 22
Omasum, the third compartment of the stomach of ruminants

Synonyms:

psalterium, omasum, manyplies, fardel
The upper part of a pin-tumbler lock, containing the driver pins and springs.

Meaning of pitch bible

Noun

pitch bible (plural pitch bibles)

A reference document used by screenwriters, with information on characters, settings, and other elements of a project.
- See also: bible (sense 4)
Synonyms:

show bible

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Bible

the Bible (plural Bibles)

The main religious text in Christianity.
- Meronyms: Old Testament, New Testament
- In my religion class we learn about the Bible, as well as religious texts of other religions.
Synonyms:

Christian Bible, Holy Bible, Good Book, Book, word of God, word of life
The Jewish holy book that was largely incorporated into the Christian Bible.
- Near-synonym: Old Testament (loosely synonymous)
- She's Jewish, but she doesn't read the Bible because she's not religious.
Synonyms:

Tanakh, Tanach, Jewish Bible, Hebrew Bible, Hebrew Scriptures, Hebrew-Aramaic Scriptures, Old Testament[Appendix:Glossary
The analogous holy book of another religion or belief system.
- He conveys to his foreign students the importance of the Qur'an by explaining that it is the Bible of Islam.
- The cult's ideological substance was the popular digest dubbed by foreigners the Little Red Book or the Bible of Maoism.1977, Roxane Witke, Comrade Chiang Chʻing, Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 360
(broadly) The principal important document of some area of skill or expertise.
- This technical handbook is the Bible of our trade.

Noun (2) capitalized: Bible

Bible (plural Bibles)

A specific version, edition, translation, or copy of one of the above-mentioned texts.
- He had just become able to read, with much effort, short sentences in his Bible, and was constantly engaged during his leisure hours in studying its pages.1842, A. D. Eddy, Black Jacob, page 38
- An American imprisoned for nearly six months in North Korea has admitted that he deliberately left a Bible in a nightclub, in one of his first major interviews since his release.[…]“I felt once I left the Bible somewhere that God would take it the rest of the way into the hands of some kind of...2014 November 1, Tony Bonnici, “US tourist held in North Korea felt ‘compelled to leave Bible’”, in The Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 Aug 2023

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Bible

Bible

A surname originating as a matronymic.

Synonyms of bible

8 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Forms of bible

Proper noun
plural	bibles
plural	Bibles
alternative form (rare)	bible
alternative form (rare)	The Bible
Noun
plural	bibles
plural	Bibles

Origin of bible

From Middle English bible, from Middle Latin biblia (“book”) (misinterpreted as a feminine from earlier Latin neuter plural biblia (“books”)), from Ancient Greek βιβλία (biblía, “books”), plural of βιβλίον (biblíon, “small book”), originally a diminutive of βίβλος (bíblos, “book”), from βύβλος (búblos, “papyrus”) (from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported this writing material). Old English used biblioþēce (from βιβλιοθήκη) and ġewritu (> English writs) for "the Scriptures".

From Middle English bible, from Medieval Latin biblia (“book”) (misinterpreted as a feminine from earlier Latin neuter plural biblia (“books”)), from Ancient Greek βιβλία (biblía, “books”), plural of βιβλίον (biblíon, “small book”), originally a diminutive of βίβλος (bíblos, “book”), from βύβλος (búblos, “papyrus”) (from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported this writing material). Old English used biblioþēce (from βιβλιοθήκη) and ġewritu (whence English writs) for "the Scriptures".

From a Middle English diminutive of the given name Isabel.

Words formed from bible

Phrases with bible

19 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with bible

libel
tribal

Questions about bible

What does bible mean?: Bible means a comprehensive manual that describes something, or a publication with a loyal readership; a foundational text.
What is bible the alternative letter-case form of?: Bible is the alternative letter-case form of Bible.
What part of speech is bible?: Bible can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce bible?: Bible is pronounced /ˈbaɪbəl/ (UK).
What is the plural of bible?: The plural of bible is bibles.

Words near bible in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: bible (page history and authors); Bible (page history and authors); pitch bible (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-bible.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Bible.wav.

Cite this entry: “bible.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bible. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.