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library definition

li·brary (lī′brer′ē, -brər ē; also, though usually regarded as nonstandard, lī′bər ē)

noun pl. libraries -·brar′·ies

    1. a collection of books, periodicals, musical scores, films, phonograph records, etc., esp. a large, systematically arranged collection for reading or reference
    2. a room or building where such a collection is kept
  2. a public or private institution in charge of the care and circulation of such a collection
  3. a set or series of books issued in a single format by a publishing house
  4. any collection of things that is organized for a particular purpose a software library

Etymology: ME librarie < OFr < libraire, copyist < L librarius, n., transcriber of books, adj., of books < liber, a book, orig. inner bark or rind of a tree (which was written on) < IE base *leubh-, to peel off > leaf, Gr lepein, to strip off rind

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