bibliophile

noun

"bibliophile" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bibliophile” is uncommon English (frequency #82,095 among 31,241 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#82,095
frequency rank, English
31,241
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - One who loves books.

Key facts for bibliophile
PropertyValue
Headwordbibliophile
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters11
Frequency rank#82,095
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “bibliophile” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). bibliophile lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

bibliophile is uncommon English at frequency #82,095 among 31,241 “B” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for bibliophile in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: First attested in 1820. From biblio- + -phile (from Ancient Greek βιβλίον (biblíon, “paper, document, tablet”) + φίλος (phílos, “beloved”)), probably after French bibliophile. The correct English form is bibliophile, spelled B-I-B-L-I-O-P-H-I-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    One who loves books.
  2. 2
    One who collects books, not necessarily due to any interest in reading them.
  3. 3
    One who loves the Bible.

Etymology

First attested in 1820. From biblio- + -phile (from Ancient Greek βιβλίον (biblíon, “paper, document, tablet”) + φίλος (phílos, “beloved”)), probably after French bibliophile.

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "bibliophile"?
"bibliophile" is spelled B-I-B-L-I-O-P-H-I-L-E.
What does "bibliophile" mean?
As a noun, "bibliophile" means: One who loves books.
What is the origin of the word "bibliophile"?
First attested in 1820. From biblio- + -phile (from Ancient Greek βιβλίον (biblíon, “paper, document, tablet”) + φίλος (phílos, “beloved”)), probably after French bibliophile. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “bibliophile”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is B-I-B-L-I-O-P-H-I-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list