Bók

As defined by the Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse to English dictionary:

bók Old Norse word can mean:

bók

1. ar, f. [Lat. fāgus; Gr. φηγός; A. S. bôc; Engl. beech; Germ. buche (fem.); Swed. bok; Dan. böge, etc.]:—a beech, Edda (gl.), Lex. Poët. Owing to the absence of trees in Icel., the word rarely occurs; moreover the collect. beyki, n., is more freq.

bók

2. gen. bókar, but also in old writers bækr, pl. bækr, [Ulf. renders by bôca the Gr. βίβλος, γράμματα, επιστολή, etc.; A. S. bôc; Engl. book; Germ. buch (neut.); Swed. bok; Dan. bog: the identity between bók fāgus and bók liber seems certain; the gender is in all Scandinavian idioms the same; modern German has made a distinction in using buche fem., buch neut.; both are akin to the Gr.-Lat. fāgus, φηγός; cp. also the analogy with Gr. βίβλος and Lat. liber (book and bark): bók-stafr also properly means a beech-twig, and then a letter. In old times, before the invention of parchment, the bark of trees was used for writing on]:—a book.

bók

I. the earliest notion, however, of a ‘book’ in Scandin. is that of a precious stuff, a textile fabric with figures, or perhaps characters, woven in it; it occurs three or four times in old poems in this sense; bók ok blæja, bjartar váðir, Skv. 3. 47; bækr (bekr) þínar enar bláhvítu ofnar völundum (of bed-sheets?), Hðm. 7, Gh. 4: bók-rúnar, Sdm. 19, may refer to this; or is it = runes engraven on beech-wood?

bók

II. a book in the proper sense. Icel. say, rita and setja saman bók (sögu), to write and compose a book (story); old writers prefer saying, rita ‘á’ bók (dat. or acc.) instead of ‘í,’ perhaps bearing in mind that the earliest writings were on scrolls, or even on stones or wooden slabs—barbara fraxineis pingatur runa tabellis; they also prefer to use the plur. instead of sing. without regard to volumes (as in Engl. writings); það finst ritað á bókum, FmS. i. 157; á bókum Ara prests hins Fróða, iii. 106; historia ecclesiarum á tveim (sjau) bókum, Dipl. v. 18; á bókum er sagt, Landn. (pref.); á bókum Enskum, id.; á bók þessi (acc.) lét ek rita fornar frásagnir, Hkr. (pref.); but svá segir í bók þeirri sem Edda heitir, Skálda 222; þá hluti sem frammi standa í bók þessi, 159; svá sem hann (viz. Ari) hefir sjálfr ritað í sínum bókum, Ó. H. 188; þeir er Styrmir reiknar í sinni bók, Fb. ii. 68; hér fyrr í bókinni.

bók

III. a book, i. e. a story, history (Saga), since in Icel. histories were the favourite books; cp. Íslendinga-bók, Konunga-bók, bók Styrmis; Landnáma-bók; bækr þær er Snorri setti saman, Sturl. ii. 123. It is used of the Gospel in the law phrases, sem búar virða við bók, vinna eið at bók (bókar-eiðr), of a verdict given or an oath taken by laying the hand upon the Gospel, Grág. (Þ. Þ.) several times; as the Engl. phrase ‘to swear on the book’ is common; of a code (of law) = Jóns-bók, after A. D. 1272 or 1281, BS. i. 720, 723, vide Ann. those years; hafa bók even means to hold the book, i. e. to hold the office of lögmaðr (law-man, judge); Þórðr Narfa son hafði bók, Ann. (Hol.) A. D. 1304; á bókarinnar vegna, on the part of the book, i. e. the law, D. n. ii. 492. Mod. phrases: skrifa, rita, semja bók, to write it; lesa í bók, to read it; but syngja á bók, to sing from a book; fletta bók, to turn over the leaves; líta, blaða, í bók, to peruse, look into a book (hann lítr aldrei í bók, he never looks into a book); lesa bók ofan í kjölinn, to read a book carefully, v. lesa bók spjaldanna í milli, to read it from end to end:—sálma-bók, flokka-bók, a hymn-book; kvæða-bók, ljóða-bók, a book of poems; sögu-bók, of histories; lög-bók, of laws; Guðs orða-bók, God’s word-book, a religious book:—also of MSS., Flateyjar-bók (Cod. Flateyensis), Orms-bók, Uppsala-bók, Konungs-bók, Staðarfells-bók, Skálholts-bók, etc.:—phrases relating to books: það er allt á eina bókina lært, all learnt from the same book, i. e. all of one piece (esp. denoting one-sidedness); blindr er bóklauss maðr, blind is a bookless man; læra utan-bókar, to learn without book, by heart; bókvit, ‘bookwit,’ knowledge got from books; mannvit, mother-wit, common sense; allra manna vit er minna en þeirra er af bókum taka mannvit sitt, SkS. 22:—also, setja e-n til bækr, to set one to book, i. e. put one to school in order to make him priest; berja e-n til bækr, to thrash one to the book, i. e. into learning, BS. i; a book has spjöld, boards; kjöl, keel, back; snið, cut; brot, size.

bók

COMPDS: bókagull, bókagörð, bókakista, bókalectari, bókalist, bókarblað, bókarbót, bókareiðr, bókareiðstafr, bókarlag, bókarskeyting, bókarskrá, bókarstóll, bókartak, bókarvitni, bókaskápr, bókasteinn, bókastokkr.

Possible runic inscription in Younger Futhark:ᛒᚢᚴ
Younger Futhark runes were used from 8th to 12th centuries in Scandinavia and their overseas settlements

Also available in related dictionaries:

This headword also appears in dictionaries of other languages descending from Old Norse.

• Old Icelandic - Geir Zoëga's Dictionary
• Old Norwegian - Johan Fritzner's Dictionary
• Old Swedish - K.F Söderwall's Dictionary