/buy"beuhl/ , n.
1. the collection of sacred writings of the Christian religion, comprising the Old and New Testaments.
2. Also called Hebrew Scriptures . the collection of sacred writings of the Jewish religion: known to Christians as the Old Testament.
3. ( often l.c. ) the sacred writings of any religion.
4. ( l.c. ) any book, reference work, periodical, etc., accepted as authoritative, informative, or reliable: He regarded that particular bird book as the birdwatchers' bible.
[ 1300-50; ME bible, bibel bible biblia (fem. sing.) tà biblía tà hagía (Septuagint) the holy books; biblíon, byblíon papyrus roll, strip of papyrus, equiv. to býbl ( os ) papyrus (after Býblos, a Phoenician port where papyrus was prepared and exported) + -ion n. suffix ]