: a place in which literary, musical, artistic, or reference materials (such as books, manuscripts, recordings, or films) are kept for use but not for sale
: a collection of publications on the same subject
4
: a collection of cloned DNA fragments that are maintained in a suitable cellular environment and that usually represent the genetic material of a particular organism or tissue
How do you pronounce library?: Usage Guide
While the pronunciation \ˈlī-ˌbrer-ē\ is the most frequent variant in the U.S., the other variants are not uncommon. The contraction \ˈlī-brē\ and the dissimilated form \ˈlī-ˌber-ē\ result from the relative difficulty of repeating \r\ in the same syllable or successive syllables; our files contain citations for these variants from educated speakers, including college presidents and professors, as well as with somewhat greater frequency from less educated speakers.
I borrowed the book from the school library.
He has an impressive library of jazz records.
a library of computer programs
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The Johnson Publishing Company library is an archive of Ebony magazines and 12,000 books, most written by Black authors.—Dorothy Tucker, CBS News, 17 Nov. 2025 But what was once the home of a Christian Scientist church, is now the holy grail of Internet history — the Internet Archive, a non-profit library run by a group of software engineers and librarians, who for nearly 30 years have been saving the web one page at a time.—Hadas Gold, CNN Money, 16 Nov. 2025 The cooperative extended its role in the countryside by opening libraries and disseminating all sorts of radical (at the time) pamphlets on agrarian reform.—David McWilliams, Fortune, 16 Nov. 2025 Rounding the corner are a music room, a sitting area, a library nook, and an office.—Wendy Bowman, Robb Report, 14 Nov. 2025 See All Example Sentences for library
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Anglo-French librarie, Medieval Latin librarium, from Latin, neuter of librarius of books, from libr-, liber inner bark, rind, book
: a place where books, magazines, and records are kept for use but not for sale
b
: a collection of books, magazines, or records
2
: a collection resembling or suggesting a library
a library of computer programs
Etymology
Middle English library, librarie "a place where books are kept," from Latin librarium (same meaning), from earlier librarius "of books," from liber "book" — related to libel see Word History at libel
: a collection of cloned DNA fragments that are maintained in a suitable cellular environment and that represent the genetic material of a particular organism or tissue
inserting segments from a library of human DNA into yeast cells—Science News
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