wordbook

wordbook — noun

1. a book that brings together a group of words and tells you what they mean, used

1.nounB2
Definition

a book that brings together a group of words and tells you what they mean, used as a small dictionary or a list of important words for a certain subject

Example

Chiara bought a small wordbook of medical terms before starting nursing school.

collocation: wordbook of [subject]

The wordbook on Eshe's desk lists every plant name found in the forest.

Common collocations
  • wordbook of + subject (e.g. medical, botanical, legal)
  • wordbook on + topic
  • beginner's / student's / pocket wordbook
  • well-worn / leather-bound / old wordbook
Synonyms
  • dictionary

    the most common general term; a wordbook is usually shorter or more focused in scope

  • glossary

    a word list typically found at the end of a book, covering only that book's terms

  • vocabulary

    can mean a wordbook, but often refers to the set of words a person knows or a language has

Usage Note

Wordbook is less common than 'dictionary' in everyday speech, but it often appears in the titles of specialised reference works and in older or literary English.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

A wordbook is a compact collection of words with definitions, often narrower in scope than a full dictionary. A dictionary is the standard reference for a language's general vocabulary. A glossary is an alphabetical list inside a single book that defines the specialised terms used in that text. A lexicon is the complete set of words belonging to a language, field, or person, though it can also name a formal dictionary of an ancient language. A thesaurus groups words by related meaning rather than by alphabet, and typically does not give full definitions. For everyday language learning, 'dictionary' is the natural choice; 'wordbook' suits a focused guide such as a pocket-sized list of medical or business terms.

dictionary ↗glossary ↗lexicon ↗thesaurus ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • wordbook entry
  • wordbook collection
  • wordbook title

Prepositions

  • in a wordbook
  • from a wordbook
  • of a wordbook

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

Wordbook comes from Old English 'wordbōc', a straightforward compound of 'word' (a unit of language) and 'bōc' (a written work). It has been used for centuries to describe a list or collection of words, long before the term 'dictionary' became dominant in the early modern period.

First known use

1598

1598, in the meaning defined above