LIBRARY

noun (plural -braries) Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French librarie, Medieval Latin librarium, from Latin, neuter of librarius of books, from libr-, liber inner bark, rind, book Date: 14th century 1. a place in which literary, musical, artistic, or reference materials (as books, manuscripts, recordings, or films) are kept for use but not for sale, a collection of such materials, 2. a collection resembling or suggesting a ~ , morgue 2, 3. a series of related books issued by a publisher, a collection of publications on the same subject, 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, Usage: 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.