book words
book words is the plural of book word.
Meaning of book word
Noun
book word (plural book words)
- A word that is encountered in writing but not usually in speech, which people may therefore not know how to pronounce (correctly).
- The second, being a ‘book word,’ has quite an artificial pronunciation.1871, Alexander John Ellis, On Early English Pronunciation, with Especial Reference to Shakspere ...
- A word that is borrowed into a vernacular from a closely related literary language, thus being etymologically related to native vocabulary, but not showing regular sound changes.
- French loyal and légal are both from Latin lēgālis. While the former was inherited, the latter is a book word.
Questions about book words
- What is book words the plural of?
- Book words is the plural of book word.
Words near book words in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: book words (page history and authors); book word (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.
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Cite this entry: “book words.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/book_words. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.