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bibliotaph

/ˈbɪbliətæf/
/ˈbɪbliətɑf/
IPA guide

Other forms: bibliotaphs

A bibliotaph is a book hoarder, a person who has a lot of books but hides them away, not allowing others to read them. In fact, a bibliotaph might not even read the books.

You could think of a bibliotaph as a sort of miser, like Ebenezer Scrooge from A Christmas Carol, but a miser of books instead of money. A bibliotaph might hide their books away to keep them in mint condition. Or one might value the knowledge in the books but not want to share that knowledge. It's possible that a bibliotaph just has so many books that they hide them away in a closet. The word bibliotaph comes from the Greek roots biblio, meaning "book," and taph, meaning "tomb."

Definitions of bibliotaph
  1. noun
    someone who hides away or hoards books where others can't get them, sometimes without even reading them
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