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Glite Dictionary
🌱 Early stage 📖 An old book 🍼 A beginning thing
incunable

incunable

9.9
A book printed before 1501 when printing first began in Europe
  • noun
  • /ˌɪnˈkjuːnəbl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : incunable
  • Scholars study incunables to learn about the history of early printing.

Examples

  • The museum displayed a rare incunable printed in 1495.

  • Owning an incunable is a dream for many collectors of antique books.

  • I found an incunable in the library's rare book section.

  • Many incunables are valuable to collectors.

  • The museum displayed a rare incunable printed in 1495.

  • Owning an incunable is a dream for many collectors of antique books.

  • I found an incunable in the library's rare book section.

Synonyms

incunabulum
vsincunable
  • Specialized
9.9

A book printed before 1501 during the first years of printing in Europe

has identical meaning but differs in spelling or traditional form

Surface Forms

incunable singular
incunables plural

Etymology

Incunable comes from the Latin incunabulum, meaning 'cradle' or 'infancy', and was used for books from the very first years after the invention of printing. That's why an incunable is a book from the early days of printing (before 1501).