Bodleian

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. The principal research library of the University of Oxford, famous for its vast collection of manuscripts and rare books ; an adjective describing anything connected with Sir Thomas Bodley, who founded that library
2. The celebrated reference library at Oxford University, housing an enormous collection of printed and handwritten works ; relating to Sir Thomas Bodley, the scholar who established it in the seventeenth century
3. Name of the great Oxford University library founded by Thomas Bodley ; of or associated with the man Thomas Bodley and his legacy to scholarship

Etymology: Sir Thomas Bodley was an English diplomat and scholar who, in the early 1600s, restored the disused library of Oxford University and turned it into a major collection. The library took his name, and the adjective "Bodleian" was formed by adding the suffix "-an" to his surname, the same ending found in words like "Lutheran" or "Victorian" that marks a person or thing connected to a named figure. So the word is a simple eponym: nothing in it is older than Bodley himself. Its meaning is tied directly to the library, which is why the adjective is most often used for the institution's books, manuscripts and staff, rather than for anything Bodley is remembered for in other respects.