commonplace book

Noun

commonplace book (plural commonplace books)

1. A personal notebook or journal in which memorabilia, quotations, etc., are written.
   • I did this in thirty pages of closely written matter, of which a pressed copy remains in my commonplace-book.1910, Samuel Butler, chapter 2, in Unconscious Memory
   • The compiler of a commonplace book is on his own; he can put in anything that appeals to him: aphorisms, poems, parts of poems, newspaper clippings, song lyrics, bits of humor, overheard conversations—anything that has struck him as exciting, that he has found stimulating, odd or amusing.1970 May 3, William Cole, “Speaking of Commonplace Books”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   Synonyms:

   commonplace