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incunabulum

/ˌɪn.kjʊˈnæb.jʊ.ləm/noun

incunabulum is a noun meaning “A book, single sheet, or image that was printed before the year 1501 in Europe” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled I-N-C-U-N-A-B-U-L-U-M. The plural of incunabulum is incunabula.

What does incunabulum mean?

noun

  1. 1

    A book, single sheet, or image that was printed before the year 1501 in Europe.

  2. 2

    The cradle, birthplace, or origin of something.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce incunabulum?

  • /ˌɪn.kjʊˈnæb.jʊ.ləm/

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-incunabulum.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of incunabulum

  • incunabula plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Incunabulum in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

In the sense book, sheet or image:

LanguageWords
Frenchincunable
GermanInkunabel, Wiegendruck
Portugueseincunábulo
Spanishincunable

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does incunabulum come from?

Borrowed from Latin incūnābulum (“cradle, origin”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).