Bible

6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Bible \Bi"ble\ (b[imac]"b'l), n. [F. bible, L. biblia, pl., fr.
     Gr. bibli`a, pl. of bibli`on, dim. of bi`blos, by`blos, book,
     prop. Egyptian papyrus.]
     1. A book. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
        [1913 Webster]
  


     2. {The Book} by way of eminence, -- that is, the book which
        is made up of the writings accepted by Christians as of
        divine origin and authority, whether such writings be in
        the original language, or translated; the Scriptures of
        the Old and New Testaments; -- sometimes in a restricted
        sense, the Old Testament; as, King James's Bible; Douay
        Bible; Luther's Bible. Also, the book which is made up of
        writings similarly accepted by the Jews; as, a rabbinical
        Bible.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. A book containing the sacred writings belonging to any
        religion; as, the Koran is often called the Mohammedan
        Bible.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. (Fig.) a book with an authoritative exposition of some
        topic, respected by many who are experts in the field.
        [PJC]
  
     {Bible Society}, an association for securing the
        multiplication and wide distribution of the Bible.
  
     {Douay Bible}. See {Douay Bible}.
  
     {Geneva Bible}. See under {Geneva}.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Bible
       n 1: the sacred writings of the Christian religions; "he went to
            carry the Word to the heathen" [syn: {Christian Bible},
            {Book}, {Good Book}, {Holy Scripture}, {Holy Writ}, {Scripture},
             {Word of God}, {Word}]
       2: a book regarded as authoritative in its field

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  19 Moby Thesaurus words for "Bible":
     Douay Bible, Holy Scripture, Holy Writ, King James Version,
     Revised Standard Version, Revised Version, Scripture, Septuagint,
     Testament, Vulgate, canon, canonical writings, sacred writings,
     scripture, scriptures, the Book, the Good Book, the Scriptures,
     the Word
  
  

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  bible n. 1. One of a small number of fundamental source books such as
     {Knuth}, {K&R}, or the {Camel Book}. 2. The most detailed and
     authoritative reference for a particular language, operating system, or
     other complex software system.
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  bible
       
           The most detailed and authoritative reference
          for a particular language, {operating system} or other complex
          software system.  It is also used to denote one of a small
          number of such books such as {Knuth} and {K&R}.
       
          [{Jargon File}]
       
          (1996-12-03)
       
       

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Bible
     Bible, the English form of the Greek name _Biblia_, meaning
     "books," the name which in the fifth century began to be given
     to the entire collection of sacred books, the "Library of Divine
     Revelation." The name Bible was adopted by Wickliffe, and came
     gradually into use in our English language. The Bible consists
     of sixty-six different books, composed by many different
     writers, in three different languages, under different
     circumstances; writers of almost every social rank, statesmen
     and peasants, kings, herdsmen, fishermen, priests,
     tax-gatherers, tentmakers; educated and uneducated, Jews and
     Gentiles; most of them unknown to each other, and writing at
     various periods during the space of about 1600 years: and yet,
     after all, it is only one book dealing with only one subject in
     its numberless aspects and relations, the subject of man's
     redemption.
     
       It is divided into the Old Testament, containing thirty-nine
     books, and the New Testament, containing twenty-seven books. The
     names given to the Old in the writings of the New are "the
     scriptures" (Matt. 21:42), "scripture" (2 Pet. 1:20), "the holy
     scriptures" (Rom. 1:2), "the law" (John 12:34), "the law of
     Moses, the prophets, and the psalms" (Luke 24:44), "the law and
     the prophets" (Matt. 5:17), "the old covenant" (2 Cor. 3:14,
     R.V.). There is a break of 400 years between the Old Testament
     and the New. (See {APOCRYPHA}.)
     
       The Old Testament is divided into three parts:, 1. The Law
     (Torah), consisting of the Pentateuch, or five books of Moses.
     2. The Prophets, consisting of (1) the former, namely, Joshua,
     Judges, the Books of Samuel, and the Books of Kings; (2) the
     latter, namely, the greater prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and
     Ezekiel, and the twelve minor prophets. 3. The Hagiographa, or
     holy writings, including the rest of the books. These were
     ranked in three divisions:, (1) The Psalms, Proverbs, and Job,
     distinguished by the Hebrew name, a word formed of the initial
     letters of these books, _emeth_, meaning truth. (2) Canticles,
     Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther, called the five
     rolls, as being written for the synagogue use on five separate
     rolls. (3) Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and 1 and 2 Chronicles.
     Between the Old and the New Testament no addition was made to
     the revelation God had already given. The period of New
     Testament revelation, extending over a century, began with the
     appearance of John the Baptist.
     
       The New Testament consists of (1) the historical books, viz.,
     the Gospels, and the Acts of the Apostles; (2) the Epistles; and
     (3) the book of prophecy, the Revelation.
     
       The division of the Bible into chapters and verses is
     altogether of human invention, designed to facilitate reference
     to it. The ancient Jews divided the Old Testament into certain
     sections for use in the synagogue service, and then at a later
     period, in the ninth century A.D., into verses. Our modern
     system of chapters for all the books of the Bible was introduced
     by Cardinal Hugo about the middle of the thirteenth century (he
     died 1263). The system of verses for the New Testament was
     introduced by Stephens in 1551, and generally adopted, although
     neither Tyndale's nor Coverdale's English translation of the
     Bible has verses. The division is not always wisely made, yet it
     is very useful. (See {VERSION}.)