Bookshelves

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Furniture designed to hold and organize collections of books
2. A piece of home or office furniture used to display and keep books orderly
3. An item intended for arranging and storing books in an accessible manner

Etymology: "Bookshelves" is the plural of "bookshelf," a compound of "book" and "shelf." Both parts are old English words: "book" traces back to Old English "boc," and "shelf" to Old English "scylf," meaning a flat board or ledge. The compound is transparent in a way many English words are not: a bookshelf is simply a shelf for books, and the plural form follows the regular change of "shelf" to "shelves," in which the final "f" becomes "v" before the plural ending.

Synonyms: shelves, bookcases