Etymology
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Byblos

ancient Phoenician port (modern Jebeil, Lebanon) from which Egyptian papyrus was exported to Greece. The name probably is a Greek corruption of Phoenician Gebhal, said to mean literally "frontier town" or "mountain town" (compare Hebrew gebhul "frontier, boundary," Arabic jabal, Canaanite gubla "mountain"), which is perhaps a folk-etymology of the older Phoenician name, which might contain El "god." The Greek name also might have been influenced by, or come from, an Egyptian word for "papyrus."

Entries linking to Byblos

biblio- 

word-forming element meaning "book" or sometimes "Bible," from Greek biblion "paper, scroll," also the ordinary word for "a book as a division of a larger work;" originally a diminutive of byblos "Egyptian papyrus." This is perhaps from Byblos, the Phoenician port from which Egyptian papyrus was exported to Greece (modern Jebeil, in Lebanon; for sense evolution compare parchment). Or the place name might be from the Greek word, which then would be probably of Egyptian origin. Compare Bible. Latin liber (see library) and English book also are ultimately from plant-words.

updated on October 10, 2017

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