entry
bookcase
/ˈbʊkˌkeɪs/A piece of furniture for storing books
From Proto-Germanic, via Old English and Middle English book (A written work or collection of pages) + Latin, via Old Northern French and Middle English case (A box).
Word Ancestry
Long before books lived on shelves, they may have lived on trees: the Germanic ancestor of book, *bōks, is connected with the beech tree, whose smooth wood could serve as a writing surface for runes. English inherited bōc from Old English, while Latin took a different botanical route: liber, “inner tree bark,” eventually gave English library. The case half comes from Latin capsa, a box or receptacle, traveling through Old Northern French casse before reaching English; it is a different word from case meaning “an event,” which comes from Latin casus, “a falling.” By 1726, English speakers had simply fitted the two pieces together: a book-case was a box-like piece of furniture built to hold books. So a bookcase is, in a surprisingly literal sense, a wooden home for objects whose name still whispers of beech trees and bark.
The Story
Long before books lived on shelves, they may have lived on trees: the Germanic ancestor of book, *bōks, is connected with the beech tree, whose smooth wood could serve as a writing surface for runes. English inherited bōc from Old English, while Latin took a different botanical route: liber, “inner tree bark,” eventually gave English library. The case half comes from Latin capsa, a box or receptacle, traveling through Old Northern French casse before reaching English; it is a different word from case meaning “an event,” which comes from Latin casus, “a falling.” By 1726, English speakers had simply fitted the two pieces together: a book-case was a box-like piece of furniture built to hold books. So a bookcase is, in a surprisingly literal sense, a wooden home for objects whose name still whispers of beech trees and bark.
Modern Usage
Urban Dictionary records vulgar slang senses for a shower-shuffling act and a violent act.
Notable References
- Urban Dictionary entries
Kin & Kindred
From 'book'·A written work or collection of pages
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'case'·A box, container, or enclosure
Derived Terms
English words from this root