Dog Days: The Words of August: Book Words for Book Worms: National Book Lovers Day, August 9

From amanuensis to author, foreword to frontispiece, there's more to books than just reading them. Here are some of the words we use to talk about books, book parts, and book people.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. amanuensis
    someone skilled in the transcription of speech
    Every writer is the amanuensis to their characters, often using language they never consciously would, she added. The Guardian
    In the days before dictation software, in fact before software of any kind at all, there was the amanuensis. An amanuensis is someone who writes down everything that is said. Often it is easier for someone not used to being a writer to speak their thoughts aloud. The amanuensis captures this free-flowing speech on the page, so it can then be organized and edited into a finished work.
  2. author
    a person who writes professionally
    He pulls out a book, and my eyes go straight to the author’s name on the cover. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
  3. bibliophile
    someone who loves and usually collects books
    Any young bibliophile can soon enjoy multiple opportunities—all of them outdoors and free—to dive deeply into the world of books, and not just by investigating what’s between their covers. New York Times
    A bibliophile is a word that literally means “book lover.” It is important to distinguish a bibliophile from a bibliomaniac. A bibliomaniac is someone whose hobby of collecting rare books has gotten out of control. Most bibliomaniacs are collectors first and don’t even read the books they buy, but when you call someone a bibliophile you’re talking about their love of reading first and foremost.
  4. book
    an object consisting of a number of pages bound together
    When I finished all the Verne books in the library, I became the first in line for any book that arrived written by modern science-fiction writers such as Heinlein, Asimov, van Vogt, Clarke, and Bradbury. October Sky
    Over the years a book has come to mean radically different things; a magazine can be called a book, a play script or the collection of the dialogue in a musical play is called a book; there are betting books and rule books. If the physical book is in jeopardy from computers and e-books, the word book is not going anywhere, because it is too handy a shorthand for a collection of writings.
  5. colophon
    a publisher's emblem printed in a book
    Avon, one of the most resolutely down-market of the major paperback imprints, used an image of Shakespeare’s head as a colophon. The New Yorker
    Colophon is a Greek word originally meaning "finishing touch." Today it refers to a publisher's emblem or logo that can be seen on the spine and title page of most books.
  6. epilogue
    a short section at the end of a literary work
    Perhaps because the story pursues so many questions, it seems unable to end, relying on both an epilogue and a postscript, and moving in new directions in the final pages. Washington Post
    Many long stories have epilogues because the reader has been following the characters for so long that they will simply have to know what happens to their favorite characters after the story ends. Epilogues were a tradition in the ancient theater, as the last bit of dialogue spoken; usually it contained a lesson the author wanted to leave their audience with.
  7. epistolary
    written in the form of letters or correspondence
    Much of the book is epistolary, and part of its charm comes from the reader’s being urged to make that empathetic leap into the minds of letter writers from another time. New York Times
    If a novel takes the form of a series of letters written between two (or occasionally more) people, then it can be called an epistolary novel. Epistola is Latin for "letter."
  8. foreword
    a short introductory essay preceding the text of a book
    My godfather, Alex Haley, bequeathed me the opportunity to write this foreword to my father’s autobiography. The Autobiography of Malcolm X
  9. frontispiece
    an illustration facing the title page of a book
    The frontispiece for Maria’s caterpillar book features the first caterpillar she ever studied: the silkworm, perched on its host plant of mulberry leaves. The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science
    Besides being an illustration at the beginning of a book—children's books will often have them—frontispiece can also refer to an architectural feature framing the entrance to a building. It's a great word, in that it pretty much tells you exactly what it means: this piece is in front.
  10. prologue
    an introduction to a play
    Lola was pacing the floorboards, one hand to her brow as she skimmed through the first pages of the play, muttering the lines from the prologue. Atonement
  11. tome
    a large and scholarly book
    Its first and second shelves were filled with tomes, scrolls, and other unremarkable documents, but she stopped when she reached the bottom one. Beasts of Prey
    To call a book a tome is to say that it is a very large book, long in page count.
  12. volume
    a collection of written or printed sheets bound together
    Glancing at the bookcases, I thought I could distinguish the two volumes of Bewick’s British Birds occupying their old place on the third shelf, and Gulliver’s Travels and the Arabian Nights ranged just above. Jane Eyre
    Volume is a very old word, dating from the 14th century, when it meant “any roll of parchment containing writing.” The fact that the writing was on a scroll is important to the name, as volume comes from Latin words meaning “that which is rolled” and “to turn around, revolve.”
Created on Sun Jul 30 17:53:17 EDT 2017 (updated Thu May 25 11:31:51 EDT 2023)

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