bookman

noun

book·​man ˈbu̇k-mən How to pronounce bookman (audio)
1
: a person who has a love of books and especially of reading
2
: a person who is involved in the writing, publishing, or selling of books

Examples of bookman in a Sentence

a bookman since toddlerhood, he's never shown much interest in television or video games
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Subsequent chapters explore great bookmen of the Renaissance, from the Florentine tradesman Vespasiano da Bisticci and the Flemish illuminator Simon Bening to the English antiquarian Sir Robert Cotton — manuscript obsessives all. Bruce Holsinger, New York Times, 11 Nov. 2023 In the 1970s and ’80s, a flamboyant Texas bookman and one-time president of the ABAA named John Jenkins made money selling stolen and forged items to libraries and collectors. Travis McDade, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Aug. 2020 Once asked to describe himself, McMurtry called himself a writer, a screenwriter — and perhaps most significantly, a bookman. Thomas Curwen, Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2021 As bookmen and women became intelligence agents, the ordinary activities of librarianship—acquisition, cataloguing, and reproduction—became fraught with mystery, uncertainty, and even danger. Time, 3 Jan. 2020 Books would come in monthly, 10 or 15 at a time, carefully packed as only a bookman can pack books, and Dimunation would open them, eager for the riches inside. Jorge Dionis, Town & Country, 6 Dec. 2013

Word History

First Known Use

1583, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of bookman was in 1583

Dictionary Entries Near bookman

Cite this Entry

“Bookman.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bookman. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!