Bibliophiliac

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. Describing a person with an extreme, almost compulsive fondness for collecting and reading books
2. Relating to someone whose passion for books borders on an obsessive craving for them
3. An informal, humorous term for a person who is intensely and excessively devoted to books

Etymology: Thomas Frognall Dibdin, an English bibliographer, popularised "bibliomania" in 1809 with a book of that title about collectors who would go to great lengths to acquire rare volumes. "Bibliophiliac" is a playful offshoot of that vocabulary, most likely a blend of "bibliophile," from Greek "biblion" (book) and "philos" (loving), and "maniac," from Greek "manía" (madness), with the "-iac" ending taken from the latter. The exact date and first user are uncertain, but it seems to be a twentieth-century coinage, used as a joke rather than a clinical term.

Synonyms: bibliophile, book lover