Bluebooks

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of authoritative reference book typically containing important facts or data organized for easy access
2. A bound collection of official documents or reports generally used for in-depth research
3. A publication often utilized in academia that provides standardized information across various fields of study

Etymology: The "blue" in bluebooks comes from the colour of the covers that official British government papers, especially parliamentary reports, were bound in for much of the nineteenth century. The name was applied to these publications by the 1800s, so a bluebook was, quite literally, a book with a blue cover, and the term stuck even as the bindings changed. Bluebooks are the plural of "bluebook", a compound of "blue" and "book", and their use for detailed research papers and inquiries reflects the bulk and seriousness of what they contained.