Word.ws English Dictionary

helluo librorum

Syllables: hel·luo li·bro·rum/ˌhɛljʊəʊ lɪˈbɹɔːɹəm/US/ˌhɛljuoʊ lɪˈbɹɔ(ə)ɹəm/

helluo librorum noun: an insatiable and obsessive bookworm (“avid book reader”).

Noun

helluo librorum (plural helluones librorum)

  1. (archaic, literary) An insatiable and obsessive bookworm (“avid book reader”).
    • [A] Writers Stomach, Appetite, and Victuals, may be judg'd from his Method, Stile, and Subject, as certainly as if you were his Meſs-fellow, and ſat at Table with him. Hence we call a Subject dry, a Writer inſipid, Notions crude, and indigeſted, a Pamphlet empty or hungry, a Stile jejune, and many...[1720, [attributed to Jonathan Swift], The Right of Precedence between Phisicians and Civilians Enquir’d into, Dublin: […] [J. Gowan] for John Hyde […], and Robert Owen […], →OCLC, page 16
    • Among the helluones librorum, the Cormorants of Books, there are wretched Reaſoners, that have canine Appetites, and no Digeſtion.1729, [Bernard Mandeville], “The Fourth Dialogue between Horatio and Cleomenes”, in The Fable of the Bees. Part II. […], London: […] J. Roberts […], →OCLC, page 187

Forms of helluo librorum

pluralhelluones librorum

Origin of helluo librorum

Learned borrowing from Late Latin helluō librōrum (“glutton of books”), from Latin helluō (“glutton; squanderer”) + librōrum (“of books”). Helluō is derived from helluārī + -ō (suffix forming masculine agent nouns, nicknames, and other designations); helluārī is the present active infinitive of helluor (“to be a glutton, gormandize”), further etymology unknown. Librōrum is the genitive plural form of liber (“book; inner bark of a tree”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (“to cut off, peel”)). The plural form is also borrowed from Late Latin helluōnēs librōrum.

Words that rhyme with helluo librorum

Questions about helluo librorum

What does helluo librorum mean?
Helluo librorum means an insatiable and obsessive bookworm (“avid book reader”).
What part of speech is helluo librorum?
Helluo librorum is a noun.
How do you pronounce helluo librorum?
Helluo librorum is pronounced /ˌhɛljʊəʊ lɪˈbɹɔːɹəm/ (UK).
What is the plural of helluo librorum?
The plural of helluo librorum is helluones librorum.

Words near helluo librorum in the dictionary

  1. hellthread
  2. hellthreads
  3. Helltown
  4. Helluland
  5. helluo
  6. helluo librorum
  7. helluones librorum
  8. helluos
  9. helluv
  10. helluva
  11. helluvalot

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: helluo librorum (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-helluo librorum.wav.

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